Price of Peace
by De Amicus
Summary: After a peace mission gone wrong Hiccup has been missing for three years, but when he suddenly returns, can he and the tribe fit together again? A completion of another story. Special thanks to fs440 for the help and advice.
1. Author's note

_**Hey all!**_

 _ **This story requires some explanation, so please sit tight and bear with me or skip to the bottom of the page for a short version. If you wish to skip all explanation please start reading on chapter 3 titled "Hello."**_

 _ **This is a completion of Hiccstridforever12345's story I'll Come Back, you can find the original at www . fanfiction s/11172663/1/I-ll-come-back. It is an M rated story, but just for language as far as I remember.**_

 _ **I have tried to contact the original author in many different ways, but was unable to achieve success so I wrote my ending. Later during a reread of the original for continuity purposes, I realized the author actually had finished the story, but much of my work was done at that point.**_

 _ **fs440 was kind enough to assist me by transcribing all of the original story, and this is what you will find in the next chapter. It is there for your convenience, but it is not required reading for my story. It is all three chapters of the original in one giant chapter. Be warned, it is riddled with errors, but this is actually better than the original! There were some errors we just could not leave in the story.**_

 _ **If you choose to head straight to what I have written, skip to chapter 3 (labeled: Hello?). You can probably get a pretty good understanding of what previously happened without spending time reading 11,099 words of backstory. I have also provided a brief recap of the original story at the beginning of the chapter labeled**_ **Hello** ** _(chapter 3)._**

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 _ **tl;dr - I finished a different author's story, but that story was actually finished already. Please skip to chapter 3, labeled**_ **Hello** ** _and start reading there, chapter 2 is extra credit (the original story)._ _Thank you to fs440._**

 _ **All good? Cool, see ya!**_


	2. I'll come back

Chapter 1. The Letter

Okay, so this is a request I had from in Tumblr and I loved it so much I decided to do a very short story summing it =) I liked the idea and I thought it was worth just kike 3 or 4 chapters maybe more, I don't know. I wanted to rated T but I, personally almost cried writing it and I think it has a lot of angst, but I won't be rating it M. It's a Hiccstrid story, kind of tragedy. Hehehe

Anyway, here's the first chapter to make you know that I'm alive and still writing but a little busy with school and all soo yeah. =) Enjoy and Please review!

 _ **I'll come back**_

" _You better not take long" she'd said before he left._

" _I will if I have to, Milady" He leaned down to kiss her forehead before he kissed her lips. Astrid didn't let him pull back and she returned the kiss with more passion, throwing her hands in his hair and pulling him down closer to her, and deepening the kiss._

 _It wasn't new to Astrid to see Hiccup leave on duty, but either way she always said goodbye like this. She made sure that every time Hiccup left, he had a reason to come back._

" _If you die out there, I'll hunt you down and kill you until your ancestors feel the pain, understood?" She mumbled against his neck._

 _With one last kiss, he grinned down at her, "Yes Milady, however, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll be back as soon as I can"_

 _He didn't._

Astrid woke up with a jolt in the middle of the night. That knock on her door kept on until it woke her. She shook her head and went downstairs of the Haddock Household, rubbing her eyes. Astrid had been acting chief until Hiccup comes home; he's been gone for a half a month now, he insisted she stayed and toke care of the village this once. The problem with the Uglithugs had been a little bit delicate for the young chief; it had been going on for months and Hiccup decided it was time to stop it. Him and a few other warriors climbed their dragons and hadn't returned within a fortnight. Astrid was okay with it actually, she knew Hiccup had to take his time with the whole peace-making thing.

The knocking stopped when she opened the door. It was dark and the figure in front of her could only mean that the person in front of her was Fishlegs. He looked agitated and Astrid know something was wrong.

"Legs? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? I-"

"Astrid, I have some news for you, I-I well, I was on the night's watch an-and I-I, well-"

"Spit it out, Fish-" Said the annoyed young woman. It was late and Astrid was not in the mood for stutters.

"Astrid- I saw something approaching in the sky. I thought it was a dragon or something" That gained Astrid's attention and she listened closely now to what Fishlegs had to say. "It-It was a rider. A Berk rider. H-He was limping and v-very badly injured."

Astrid's eyebrows shot up and she looked at him wide-eyed.

"Is he okay? Where is he?!"

"He's fine; we took him to Gothi's. I-I… Astrid, he came with this." Fishlegs reached for a piece of rolled parchment he had in his pocket and handed it to her. Astrid grabbed it and saw it was a letter from the Uglithugs. Not good news, but she didn't want to fear the worst. "It-It's addressed to the high authorities of Berk an I supposed that's you for the moment, I haven't opened it. But I'm guessing they're not good news-"

Astrid rolled the parchment open and read it anxiously. Yep, it was from the Uglithugs, saying… saying…

She covered her mouth and screamed into it. NO. No, this can't be true. She refused to believe it. Astrid sobbed loudly as she kept reading the letter. Tears involuntarily flowed down her cheeks. Astrid's body started trembling at whatever cured thing she was reading, reporting to her the worst kind of information she had in mind.

Fishlegs looked at her in horror and covered in mouth too. He had no idea what was in the letter, but judging by Astrid's face, it could only mean one thing and one thing only. It had to do with her husband. He dared not to ask anything but the nerves burned him alive. "As-Astrid, what does it say?" His voice was shaking.

The knot in her throat became so big she couldn't even breathe. Astrid choked in her breaths. Her insides burned and squirmed for reaction. Her mind blowing every kid of thought that didn't focus on the pain she was feeling right now. It was killing her, almost as if she was losing the will to live and let her body struggle in its own. Her eyes stuck in the piece of paper she had now loosely held in her hands and her legs gave up, knocking her body to the ground as she sat on her ankles. Astrid let go of the parchment before covering her face with her hands and wailing, crying and begging to the gods that she woke up from this foul dream.

Fishlegs was anguished with the crumbling of Astrid in front of him. He had absolutely no idea what to do. Astrid's wailing became louder as she lay helpless on the ground of her house. Fishlegs took the courage to step out and comfort her. His hand landed on her shoulder as he knelt beside her before wrapping his arms around her. As soon as he did this Astrid stretched her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. The pain in Fishlegs's heart grew bigger. He was just trying to help.

Astrid couldn't believe. She won't. He-he… They… They've just started a new life together. He couldn't do this to her. Not now. Please not like this. Please, no!

 _Hiccup_

His name rang loud in her ears as if someone had been yelling at them for hours. It hurt.

 _Hiccup_

"Hiccup" Her voice was barely audible with all the tears and muffling in Fishlegs' shoulder. She cried his name again louder and pulled away from the hug and stood up, he followed her. Astrid wiped away the tears but kept on her miserable face and her sobs continued.

"I, eh, sorry Fish-"

"Astrid, I understand." He interrupted.

"I-I need some time alone Fish- I-" Astrid wiped away the dampness in her face and then turned to him. Fish understood immediately and gave Astrid one last hug before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

It felt… empty. The house. Everything.

Time stopped. And the beating of her heart was the only thing going on race. A race she's not going to win this time. The Haddock household had been kid of empty since Stoick's departure, but it was still always filled with the laughter of Hiccup's cheerfulness and his presence that gave the place some life. His mother came along and everything seemed like it was before; one son, one parent. But it was still empty somehow, until she moved in on the night of their wedding and in some ways, it made everyone forget for a moment that that emptiness couldn't be filled. The house still lacked a bit with the presence of the might ex-chief.

But now… it was nothing but a reminder of how vacant and unoccupied this place will be. This was different; hopeless and unchangeable.

Astrid paced around their- _**her**_ residence in an aching suffocating silence that tore her soul apart in a merciless state of inability to do something.

The choking air of broken promises filled her lungs in just one poisonous breath. The candles were out and the place grew even more in its gloominess. She trembled.

Astrid wanted to blame someone. She blamed that blasted tribe, she blamed Toothless for not protecting his riders fast enough, she blamed Hiccup for getting out of her arms in the first place, she blamed the dragons for bringing the whole problem to the tribes and forced Hiccup to do something about it. She blamed herself for letting Hiccup go. She blamed herself for not letting him go. She blamed her fate and the gods, she blamed at nothing in particular. A scream of rage blew in the house, then a wail and another cry. Astrid collapsed on the living room whining and grieving. Moaning and weeping.

' _If you die out there, I'll hunt you down and kill you until your ancestors feel the pain, understood?'_

' _Yes Milady, however, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll be back as soon as I can.' She remembered._

 _He didn't._

 _ **He didn't.**_

Astrid meant that as a joke and he meant that as a promise. The young woman's nails dug into her nightgown, she thought they'd almost drawn blood underneath the fabric. She didn't mind. She didn't mind anything anymore. She didn't care. The promises were broken, the promised life was shattered. Their life together will only be one more vain wish. _Their_ life together. What would and wouldn't have been. What could and couldn't have been. _What should and shouldn't have been._ With him.

She had to let go of tha- NO. She will never forget and will never forgive. She wouldn't. Astrid would never let her husband go. Not like this. He changed her world and stole her heart. Her memories painfully guided her to every single aspect of his being; printing enough of him memory to last for the rest of her life. And the love she felt of every single section of it. The ones she'll never get tired of loving; his soft touch, his loving gaze, his stubborn fingers, the taste of this lips, his courage and determination…

Astrid didn't even bother to remove the mist of tears formed in her cheeks or rub her red eyes. It didn't matter.

 _Your chief is dead. He died in a pathetic attempt of battle trying to bring to us that ridiculous treaty we will not accept with mare words if promise of the future._

 _I, the chief of the tribe of the Uglithugs, will not tolerate any more discussion of the matter, sorry for your loss. The battle was brutal; my men and your mean are dead, but I'm willing to let this go, if you will._

 _Chief of the Uglithugs._

 _It drowned in her eyes as she read those foul words. Astrid had burned it down as soon as Fishlegs left her house._

So this is the first chapter, hope you liked it! Please review =)

Chapter 2. The Aftermath

Guys! I'm going to change this story to Rated M, because of language, a little bit of gore and later sexual content ok? We'll get more in depth about what exactly happened with the Uglithugs and the rest of the village. Proceed to read the next chapter, thank you!

PS: Prepare for my own new headcanon of my Hiccstrid babies! I decided to apport with my drawing skills to the fandom! I drew them and I'll be posting them on Tumblr when I publish the third chapter =) I'm so happy!

 _ **I'll Come Back – Chapter 2**_

Astrid woke up early, more like, two in the morning, and didn't sleep that night at all. She spent the whole night on the floor of the living room. Just crushing her legs with here arms to her chest and sobbing.

The first knock on the door came around at six in the morning. It was her mother-in-law. Astrid felt a pair of arms hugging her as tightly as they could. Valka was crushed herself. She'd lost a husband and now… her son too.

 _It'll get better._

 _I'm so sorry._

Astrid loved Valka, she was like a mother to her and they got along really well. Helping Hiccup always, teasing him, laughing with him and at him, and being cooking buddies. It was the last part of Hiccup she had from him. Astrid hugged her with the same amount of anxiety, understanding that the older woman had lost more. They got each other. Astrid was going to support her husband's mother as much as Val was going to support her.

The two women cried together at the loss of a very much loved one and spent the day inside the house receiving constant interruption of people bringing their condolences and gifts to the young widow. The day was cloudy and there was nothing special to do in the house, it was quiet, the whole village looked like it fell under a muting curse; no one dared to share a smile or cheer. The news spread almost in like half an hour throughout the whole village. They all decided to do a funeral in honor of Hiccup and the rest of the warriors. It was the least they could do. They'd never be forgotten, Astrid promised, she gave her best speech she'd ever make without losing it. That day was black.

The gang stopped by for a little while, but Astrid insisted that she wanted to be alone with Valka. Gobber stayed a little more time and talked about what happened to the rider that came in the middle of the night, apparently he, a survivor of the war, was sent to die here on Berk with a little message that was the letter for the Chief's wife and a reminder.

Astrid was picking up the table after lunch one time, while Valka took care of the dishes. As the young woman crossed the kitchen with some dirty plates in her still trembling hands, she slipped and blamed her lack of concentration on clumsiness when the plates fell off her fingers and crashed into the hard floor, startling Valka. Her mother-in-law immediately went to her aid as Astrid tried to clean up the mess.

"Oh my-"

"I'm so sorry" Valka heard a sniff, Astrid had her head down, not wanting to meet her eyes. "I-I'm sorry I-I wasn't looking I-"

"It's okay dear, it's okay, I'll clean it up-"

"No, I-"

"Let me" Valka grabbed Astrid's elbow gently to help her up. "You need to rest dear, I'll clean this up."

Astrid sat on the table and wiped the few tears that came out of her eyes as Valka cleaned up the shattered pieces. She sighed and realized that she really was tired. But sleep didn't come that night either. Not for at least a month.

The first time she slept on the forever empty bed was that night, and she seriously considered not sleeping there. The bed widened the hollow in her hear. Astrid laid her head on the pillow and shifted her hand to her husband's spot, softly caressing the length, his scent was almost gone, something she didn't want to, gone with the past week of his absence, and now for good. Wood avens, leather and mugwort – what would she give to make them tangible.

Valka stayed for the night, sleeping in the living room to make her company and grieve in her own way, alone. Two Haddocks down.

"You killed him!" Snotlout and Gobber grabbed her by the shoulders until she calmed down. They were on their visit to the Uglithug tribe and were standing now on their own shores. Astrid almost jumped into the bulky man, UG was his name. The week of the new, Astrid had to know more about the death of her husband, but as soon as she saw those bastards, all she wanted to do was strangle them to death.

Astrid was not stupid. She couldn't afford a war with the Uglithugs. They may have dragons but they would not use them for a war with a tribe as vast and savage as this one just for the death of their chief. She felt so powerless and it frustrated her.

"Why? Why did you do it?! Just because you wanted to stick to your old ways?!"

"He came to his own doom! He had no right to change us when we don't want to! He finally learned his last lesson." The hostile environment and their stubbornness made every Berkians fumed with anger. It was useless; the obstinacy of the Vikings was incredible in many ways.

"Heartless beast!" Snotlout yelled.

"How dare you speak to me like that in my own territory?!" UG roared and everyone fell silent. Fishlegs's head bent down trying to avoid conflict. His eyes swam across the shores. He saw no sign of evidence of a savage fight. Then again, it happened a week ago but the place seemed clean enough. He decided it was a fact not worth mentioning.

Snotlout was the next to speak, "At least have the respect to show us his body and the rest of the Berkians."

UG stayed silent for a moment, "There was nothing left. The bodies were burned in the center of the plaza, right there," he gestured with his thick the way. The visitors followed with their eyes and a sad expression appeared in all of their features.

"Can we take a look?" Gobber said miserably.

"I'm going to make you a deal. If you leave us to our way of life and leave now, I will tell you everything that happened to your husband, let you take the burned bodies and forget about all this conflict, leaving your pathetic tribe in your own little world." The man looked up satisfied when Astrid hesitated to accept his offer. She did want to know where Toothless and Hiccup died, wanted answers.

Astrid choked at the idea of her husband being killed in such a brutal way. The Uglithugs had him tortured and dropped him down in the flaming building, they said, after they beheaded his dragon. They reassured her that there was nothing left and to make sure of it, as they went to the plaza to pick up the bodies, they showed her Toothless' mechanical tailfin and the rest of Hiccup's armor. That's when Astrid just started accepting the death of her husband. How much did he suffer? What happened to him? Her mind couldn't even begin to describe the images that flew to her head as she heard it.

"Stop" she squealed, she wanted to hear no more of the adulterated words. Before she lost herself in front of the Vikings. "We'll leave, but I will never forgive this and I will never forget." They had to use a big boat to carry all the bodies of their fallen warriors and their dragons. UG stared at their boat as they sailed away from the island.

Something kept on troubling on the back of Astrid's mind. Something, like a small ray of hope. How couldn't Hiccup make one of his unexpected escapes? What-what if they were still… They-they couldn't just die… Somewhere in her heart she didn't want to accept Hiccup and Toothless were dead. They always had a plan. And that fact made her stay in thought of the possibility of them being alive.

The next week continued as grim and horrid, but Astrid's clumsiness and unfocused eyes kept worrying the older woman by the day. The blonde had had several headaches and threw up at one point, her skin was pale and she was barely eating. Somehow Valka suspected it had nothing to do with Hiccup's death. Astrid wasn't getting any better and she understood, the depression of a loss can be lethal. Until one day, somewhere in the week Astrid fell off the stairs trying to just carry on e tiny basket full of clothes down to her room and her leg was injured. Valka insisted to take her to Gothi, but then again, the young's stubbornness seemed to grow for the past five years with his son, and Valka wasn't taking it. She helped her daughter-in-law to walk up to the healer's. The lethargy of her grief was the answer to her situation, nothing more.

Until that day.

Astrid took a lot of time inside the elder's house and wore a pale face when she got out and it had explained everything.

"You're going to get through this. We are, together." They hugged when they heard the news as they left Gothi's.

"I-I- What am I going to do now-"

"Astrid, look at me. You are a strong and intelligent young woman and you will get through this." Val felt almost the same way when she was pregnant with Hiccup, except for the fact that she had the help of the husband. She wasn't going to let Astrid go through this alone, especially when she got nothing left but her as someone who can help her.

"But, how?" The young asked desperately, "I have to run a village now a-and I-I have no idea how to do it- He… he needs to be here," she sobered.

"Everyone in this village is not going to look badly at you. And Gobber and I are going to help you in everything, I promise. Everything's gonna be fine, love." Valka took Astrid's face in her hands and cleared the tears with her thumbs and took her again in her arms like a daughter. Shame loomed in her own eyes; Valka herself was new to the mothering thing. She'd missed her son's growth… The load of knowledge just reached to a few months of motherhood and then lacked in the rest, but she was determined not to miss this opportunity to witness and learn the growth of the last member her small family.

Astrid understood that nothing's going to change the facts and she began to accept that Hiccup's child was growing in her belly and she wanted to have it. She found a new part left of Hiccup she could have.

"Thanks Val, I-I appreciate it. I'm going to try my best." But no smile formed in Astrid's mouth, her hands landed on her belly and stroked it gently. How long-? The revelation of her pregnancy would've arrived to Hiccup's ears soon enough if he wouldn't have… if it'd have waited just a little more… no she wouldn't want Hiccup to just after hearing the news. It would've been more painful, well, a lot more. The idea of her husband dying without even knowing he was going to have a son made ironic things insignificant.

Just as Astrid thought things couldn't get worse, her fatherless child would grow just as Hiccup; one-parented. Guilt and awe rushed through her veins. Their baby- _her_ baby; now every pronoun had to be expressed in singular form. She didn't think she'd be able to take it all by herself. She needed him. _Gods_ , she needed him right here with her. Her stomach winced at the idea of her baby and its future _without_ a father.

 **[insert line]**

Hope you liked it! Please review! =)

Chapter 3. Immortals

 **Hi guys! I'm so excited about this! There will be happening a lot of things in this chapter. =) I recently posted a small sneak peak on Tumblr and I told you that there will be two appearances this chapter: we will know what exactly happened to Hiccup aaand… wait for it… His son! So yeah. Please review and if you want to know something more about the story please you can ask me. :) Also, I did told you that I now have my own headcanon of my Hiccstrid babies and I'll be posting them on my Tumblr account along with my art and the profiles of each! I hope you like them, I know I do.**

 **Here you go, enjoy.**

[insert line]

 _I'll Come Back – Chapter 3: Immortals_

 _A way out._

He had to find a way out.

Blood was flowing on the ground. The dragons cut in slices. No mercy. He had told himself to bring some backup, but once again decided against it, he strongly believed that it wouldn't be necessary. And now, he was dealing with the consequences. The sky was burning with the darkness of the night and the smoke rising from the village. Tons of warriors were falling one by one. None granted or received compassion. His men and their men. For no reason in particular.

The ashes crushed his lungs as he tried to breathe. He had fallen into the ground as he was flying his dragon a pair of razor netting caught them and an arrow landed in his shoulder, bringing them off balance and losing height. That's when he was separated from Toothless, the dragons roars were heard from the distance and his rider tried to reach for him, but his legs wouldn't move. When they were flying above the island he could see the ruthless and heartless massacre that was occurring beneath his eyes. Hiccup and the few escorts he had left were trying to save their fellow soldiers, now that they understood they won't be winning this battle. The least they could do was to save the ones they could. They were few and the hate was big. Hiccup was retreating now. But it became too late when he fell under their traps.

As he fell to the flaming building, the air was taken from his being brutally; he dropped under the roof and inside the house. The blow was so strong that his prosthetic had unclasped from his left leg; all he could do was crawl. The heat of the flames was blinding him to find it. His first thought was to get and find his dragon but he fell hard and his body was weak. The screams from outside could be barely heard with the crumbing of the cottage and the rippling of the predatory fire. Hiccup squirmed as he tried to move his body with his arms. If he stayed there, he'll die.

The brown color of the wooden floor transformed into amber as the fire turned the house into an infernal oven with its heat. His mind tried to create an escape plan, but it only turned to watch the clock as it focused on the time he had left before the building collapses with him still inside it, and his last chance to escape wasted.

Focus became hard to come by as one of the pillars holding the wall fell beside him, raising more cinder and dust to his face into his throat. Hiccup coughed as he moved away from it. Then realized that the wall the pillar was holding had grinded down on its own, revealing a door that was in the room behind it. The chances of that door being an exit to the house were small, but Hiccup decided he had no choice. He had to do something. He tried standing up, but without his leg, it became a really hard task, he couldn't even use the other walls as support; maybe they'd cause several grave burns in his hands. So he rose and started limping around the house as fast as he could to try to reach that door. As he was getting closer, the roof collapsed right where he was before and the rest of the house started to crumble as well. His lungs were screaming for oxygen, and he moved faster, Hiccup wanted to scream, a few tears fell from his burning eyes and down his grimy cheeks.

As soon as he reached the door, he pushed it open and was relieved when he found the exit of the house into the dire night. His breath became short and he panted hard to gain some air.

Outside, the screams of the battle were still ringing in the sky. In the time Hiccup spent trying to escape the house; the few soldiers had left, were gone… His dragon's roars didn't stop. Hiccup gasped at the sound of his dragon and tried to reach move towards it, and not remembering that he had no left leg, he fell hard into the ground. The adrenaline seemed to blind him to the exhaustion his body was feeling. The wounds he had on his arms and the wound in his shoulder because of the arrow were making him weak and the fall from the sky to the roof just worsened the damage. He'd lost a lot of blood; but Hiccup didn't care at the moment. He just wanted to find his Night Fury.

The cottage he'd just escaped from was already a mass of wood turning into ashes and the remains turned into cinder. Hiccup raise his head once more from the floor to learn that his vision and his hearing were blurred by an explosion somewhere near. Then silence. Toothless' barks ceased and Hiccup panicked. What had happened to his dragon? He had to find him.

He heard some voices nearing from down the hill. He couldn't afford to be found; gods know what those bastards would do to him alive. He had to find a hideout, and quick. Ho. He had to find Toothless, but how? The dragon would be slain as well and he can't go around in the streets shouting his name. No. He wouldn't leave him.

Hiccup dragged himself to the side of the house to get a better view of he men who were talking without being seen, he hissed and whined as he ignored the pleading of his body. They were a pair of Uglithug soldiers, slightly injured. He figured they were checking out for the leftovers of the battle. Not long after that, UG, their chief, emerged from the ashes, his burly body excelled among the others. He looked uninterested.

"Check the remains of his body and send a letter to Berk. They must hear the new about their chief." He shrugged his broad shoulders to adjust his cloak and continued his scrolling, as if he didn't mind the situation at all. Anger shook Hiccup's being as he saw the pair of soldiers inspecting the house and found the scraps of what was once his leg and laughed at it. 'He wouldn't have survived that' they chuckled. 'That's not our problem now, is it?' Did they really don't care? They left with nothing else to say and disappeared from within the smoke. Hiccup was seriously considering revealing himself and launching at the pair to make them know how very much alive he was.

The war was over. He survived, but UG thought he was dead, and he will be reporting this to Berk. They thought he was dead. And Toothless had disappeared. Hiccup's thought traveled towards Astrid and the village.

Astrid.

His mother.

The village. They will all think he's dead.

Hiccup couldn't do anything at the moment; he was badly injured, Toothless was nowhere to be seen and he didn't know how to get off the **** island to his family without his dragon; maybe he could find a boat, a tiny one, or maybe- he had to make them know he was not dead. He didn't want Astrid to know. He didn't ant her to bear with the burden of death and even much less when the death had not happened. He had to get out of there. But Toothless, he won't abandon him.

Hiccup could hear the rest of the Uglithugs clean the island as he backed into the darkness and towards the outskirts of the village; he found a pathway that lead to some kind of woodland without being found to think through his escape. He carried his body with the strength he had left and did beneath the bushes near the trees.

The battle started in the evening and it was somewhere past midnight when the savages decided to rest of cleaning and heal some of the injured. He couldn't wait 'til morning to search for Toothless. He couldn't stay on the island any longer. There, he inspected his burns and injuries. He couldn't go anywhere without his leg. ****. He couldn't even walk without having to hop or drag himself up. He had nothing to cover his injuries with. The bleeding had stopped long ago and his skin was filthy. His breathing was still hard to work on and his heart hadn't stopped pounding in his ears for hours. The wounds didn't matter; as soon as he gets to Toothless everything's going to be fine.

The letter to Berk was sent and Hiccup supposed there was nothing else to do to stop the news of what happened.

Hiccup waited until it was quiet again to come out. There was no moon, and the only thing that lit the place was the burning bodies that flamed in the plaza. No one was there to honor them.

Hiccup tried not to move a lot, as he couldn't because of his leg. He searched with his eyes for the Night Fury, and dared not to shout his name or do his call with his hands; it'll startle the guards. Hiccup knew Toothless was smart and he will o think he didn't escape. He know him; If Toothless was alive, he'd be clever not to bring attention to himself and find a place to take cover. After all, if he did that, he wouldn't be found as he was some kind of master of stealth. The dark of his skin will make him invisible under the cover of night. As he thought about this, Hiccup went back to the woodlands limping noticeably to search for him, where he know he'd not be heard.

Using the trees for support, as it was faster to move around, he silently called the dragon's name. Nothing Hiccup will **not** think his dragon didn't escape. Later, he remembered getting out of the flaming house and still hearing his dragon's roars. Then the explosion happened. And then silence. Hiccup started to build the worst case scenarios in his head and tried to figure out what could've happened then. Maybe in the explosion Toothless escaped, or maybe it happened th opposite… maybe… the dragon caused the explosion to make his escape. Yes. Hiccup decided that was the best option to believe about what happened and continued searching.

The young chief was so focused on finding his best friend and had ignored the pain in his muscles. His weakness made his feat and his head numb, as he walked he started to see spots in his line of sight, his knees trembled and his ears were plugged.

Hiccup accidentally tripped over with a branch that was lying in the floor and tumbled forward as he fell in the soft grass. He stood up with difficulty and tried to recover, his head was throbbing and then he noticed the sweat that was forming in his body that mixed with the freezing breeze of the night. It made him realize what was about to happen and he was not giving in to it. He was going to fight this and get to his family. If they found him, he'll die for sure. He had to- had to… Hiccup wanted to continue but his body finally gave up and his body dropped into the grass. And everything went black.

00000

Toothless had been hiding in that littoral cave for hours now. The sun was coming up. He know his rider was alive, he just know it. His sent hasn't left his nostrils. As soon as he caused the explosion, he disappeared in the night, he tried to find some place to hide and as he passed near some weird place where a [the] strange smell of bodies flaming made him woozy. The wound in his wing hadn't healed yet; when the razor trap caught it, the cut was deep and his left wing refused to move. His tailfin and his saddle were missing, probably burned out in the flames when he fell. He couldn't fly. His wound and scared scales ached, his saliva helped a bit trying to ease the pain, but it was not enough to heal him completely.

But now, he had to find Hiccup. He'd waited long enough.

The dragon peeked out of the cave; the sun will not rise within the hour. The sky was still dark and he could use it to take cover. Toothless climbed up the cliff and headed to the outskirts of the village.

When he caught the scent of his rider, concern rose in his being. Hiccup was down…

The essence guided the dragon closer and closer to the woods and when he found him, Hiccup was lying unconscious on the ground. Toothless immediately went to his side. He nudged him awake or did something to make him wake up and acknowledge his presence. He noses him in the head slightly and purred, then gave a groan. His rider was completely knocked out. Toothless gripped Hiccup's gaunt lightly and pulled. Nothing. Then harder, and harder. The young man stirred. The dragon knew he was alive, but he was not going to last… They had to go to someone who could heal them. Both of them.

Hiccup twisted and wringed. His body was aching terribly, his arms and legs didn't respond. The muscles of his features barely followed the instructions of his tired mind. He'd felt something, something or someone was pushing him slightly. Wha- What the ****? What had happened to him? He was lying on the floor and everything hurt. His head pounded and throbbed so hard, he didn't even want to move, but that think kept pushing him and pulling on his shirt.

Hiccup forced his heavy eyelids open to see his intruder; as soon as he opened them; two big green eyes were staring straight as him. After realizing who it was, Hiccup jolted before groaning in supreme pain that appeared instantly in his shoulder. He turned his head to the left to inspect the wound and remembered. Oh. It was turning green and purple. This was bad. The other burns haven't even changed a bit, so he dared not touch them. The dragon purred in concern. The dragon; his dragon. Toothless. Toothless was alive. He was alive and with him! Hiccup wanted to hug hi but as soon as he tried to reach out for him or sit up, his body screamed. He couldn't even move his arms. His dragon helped him up and gave him his belly to rest his back and head. Hiccup put every single effort to just lift his arm slightly and rub Toothless' scales caressing him as much as he could.

His body tumbles slackly against his dragon's body. Hiccup inhaled and exhaled heavily. "Thanks bud." His voice was small and cracked. He had coughed way too much, even his throat and lungs hurt; moments later it became hard to breathe. Hiccup remembered where he was and what had happened. He was still on that ****** island when he fainted and it was still dark. Did he sleep for a day? Or just for a moment? His dragon had found him, so that meant that he's been looking for him. Hiccup knew Toothless wouldn't wait an entire day to search for him until he knew they were both safe; which left them where they were. Now together, but still stuck here. And badly wounded.

Hiccup scratched the idea of leaving flying with Toothless when he saw that his dragon had no tail and no saddle whatsoever. How on earth will they go back home, with him like that and Toothless injured as well? When? Because with these injuries, it'll take months to recover; the stump in his leg was swollen and puffed up, read and throbbing. If the infection spread all over his leg… He couldn't even walk for himself, how-?

Hiccup started to think of ways off of the island. No flying, no swimming, which forced them to traveling by boat. Now, how _will_ he get a boat was totally another question. He couldn't. Unless… unless he steals one? But they'll see him escaping and go after him. Unless he does it at night. Yes. That was the best option. He tried to figure out at plan while they rested on the ground.

But then, he looked up. The dark denim color of the sky was slowly turning arctic, it was nearly dawn. They'd have to wait until sundown. But they needed to move from where they were. Toothless jumped when he told him this and moved to help his rider up. As Hiccup couldn't walk, he climbed on Toothless' back as the dragon carried hi to the cave in the cliff. The sun was barely visible on the horizon and the town was waking up. The Vikings wouldn't wake up within at least two hours. As they passed behind a house, they could see the now only black ash covering the seared bodies in the plaza. Hiccup's grief grew in his chest and his heart ached at the sight of the disrespectful way his fellow warriors went to Valhalla.

When they arrived to the sea cave, Hiccup slowly got off his dragon's back and tried to lay on the floor to gain some strength, but all that effort turned useless by the minute. His dragon gave him his belly again for his rider to rest on and waited. Hiccup was not going to last long, but he needed to rest because there was nothing they could do about that until it's dark again.

Hiccup closed his eyes and instantly fell into a dreadful sleep that didn't let him wake up until he felt Toothless nudge him gently on his side. His body was protesting again, is head moved centimeters to his left and eyes barely raised to see the darkening sky. It was sundown. But Hiccup wasn't cheering about it. Then went back to rest, but his dragon won't let him give up just yet. He nudged him again.

Hiccup tried to raise his arm and put it on top of Toothless' neck to pull himself up. Then, with his dragon's help, he was up again on his back. They headed to the docks as they walked stealthily in the dark. There was no one there; the musky light was coming from the village, maybe from the torches sited in the middle of the plaza. They moved closer to search for some boat that could carry their weight without sinking. They found a large enough boat for just the two of them. It was floating calmly near the huge ships and other crafts, anchored to the shore with at large rope. Yes, that'll do.

As they headed downward to the boat at the dock, a brash clank ringed down there, it'd been the slam of a door that seemed to lead to a tavern. The tavern was not far away from the boat, it was just in front of the docks. Hiccup and Toothless moved soundlessly throughout the large pillars of wood and hid behind some barrels pile up next to them. Those boxes full of fish and stock proportioned them some cover. Clinks, snorts and loud thuds echoed to where they were. The men laughed and roars of them, doing who knows what in there, was not the major concern in Hiccup's mind. He was now thinking of how to get into that boat and leaving without them noticing it's gone. And a more important fact; how will they know where to go? Berk was… west from here? Yes, west. ****. They didn't have a map or a compass or anything to help them locate places and themselves. How will they know which way they're going? He decided to think about that once they were off this ******* island.

They waited until it was late again. The Vikings stayed there until midnight, before their drunken bodies guided them up to the village again. Not even bothering to think about anything or going anywhere else but their warm beds.

The savages left the docks empty again and as Hiccup tried to force air into his lungs, they limped to the shore and Toothless cut the ropes that were holding the boat to the dock. They packed some stock for the trip; they had no idea how much time they'll stay stuck in the sea. As soon as they boarded, the boat started to sail away from the island and they were off.

Hiccup was sure that when they got to the island, flying with their dragons for the first time, they arrived to the western part of it; the docks. That meant that Berk was straight ahead if you sail out from the docks? Gods, even thinking was difficult for him. His focus was blurring again, it was becoming more frequent. Hiccup guided the boat straight ahead, hoping he was going in the right way. The waters of the ocean were flowing calmly around the small boat, and the wind was strong enough to take them far away from the island within just thirty minutes. With the darkness of the night it was really difficult to make out anything, especially when they had no idea where they were going. The first thing that came into Hiccup's mind after being free was to get some sleep. He ate some of the provisions in the small barrel and tried to sleep afterwards. Not Toothless, not the day, not the ocean was going to wake him up this time. He finally gave his body some rest.

Unless…

A thunder roared in the sky, it was so loud that it had woken Hiccup from his whole night slumber. As it was midday, but the sky was as dark as it could be. The black clouds, heavy with water of a soon to be storm, were right above them. The wind was already blowing wildly and rain was pouring faster and faster until in seconds, it had him soaked completely. Hiccup gasped and crawled his way to the helm to change the course of the boat. It was useless. The waves were starting to get bigger and wider around them, they made the boat jump once, twice and it bounced in the water, making it very difficult for Hiccup to move around it with just one leg. The boat came to a hustle that hurdled them blind as the water splashed and doused into the boat. Toothless seemed to have trouble, he tried blasting plasma blasts into the sky to call the attention of someone, something, anything… They were in trouble.

The wind and the sea were working together to dump the little boat. The sails jerked roughly against the wind, and the mast was cracking a fissure on its middle. The movement of the ocean battling with the boat howled loud with the wind. The rain was now not only falling in just one direction as the wild wind changed its course as well, no matter where you looked, the water falling from the sky was going to last in your eyes. The mast had finally broken and fallen over, forgotten in the vast sea.

The possibility of their imminent death was growing by the second… They were not surviving this.

A huge wave formed a wall beside them and ditched them almost overboard. Hiccup didn't know how long he was going to last, he could hardly breathe in normal weather, and now the water keeping him to find oxygen was making things worse, not to mention his wounded shoulder, burns, injuries and lack of left leg. His lungs were burning with the salt that was entering his being and his throat ached form so much coughing the salt out. His eyes were blinded as well. His dragon was having a difficult time trying to keep up with his rider, but as Hiccup seemed that he would faint at any moment, Toothless stood by his side and tried to keep the water out of the way. But nothing worked.

Another punch of water landed on Hiccup's face, then another. The more he tried to stand up again, the more the ocean will fight back. As his vision became blacker and blacker, his senses started to fail him as well. A large wave and a powerful strike of wind was the last thing he saw before it hit them both and flooded the boat, turning their senses blank…

000000

"Mommy" The child cried.

"Hey! Hey little one", it was not but two years, since she started calling her son like that. Since that first night when he woke her up with his cries and then mixed up with her own. She named him Vindur, it meant _wind_ , and Astrid thought it might suit him just fine. Motherhood became an easy task when she got the hang of it, she learned how to handle a small kid and how to give him the love he needed, and Astrid loved her son very much. She'd been a good mother, Val once said.

"Now, put that eel down before I get mad. You know Stormfly doesn't like them." The little boy giggles as he covered his big mouth with his hands. He dropped the eel to the floor and Astrid picked it up and put it back on the table before her son went toddling to the arms of his mother.

The two years plus the nine months of pregnancy had kept her mind busy. Things did change in the time being; Val and Gobber had helped her in those years of a single mother and the village was handled perfectly. The first and the last months Astrid was panicked, said she had no idea what to do or how to handle it. Some midwives and elders took some of their time to teach her about housekeeping when having a baby and some tricks to keep him calm. The young chiefess had learned how to do it and loved it; handling a kid didn't seem difficult in that time, at least she was accompanied by all those experienced people. But, all in all, Astrid sometimes felt lonelier than ever. There were days when there was only her and her growing belly; the more it grew, the more she began to accept that yes, she was going to have a baby. She was not ready. No one is ready to have their first child, Val had said.

"Stormy!" The child cried.

"Okay, big boy, what do you say we pay old Granny a visit, eh?" She said as she shifted the toddler in her arms and rocked him. Astrid smiled.

"Granny Val!" The auburn-haired called.

The village greeted her with joy as they saw the young heir in his mother's arms squirming playfully, Stormfly at their feet. Some restrictions were disciplined in her during the pregnancy; no flying: being the most intolerable, no training, no moving practically! And Astrid could be more annoyed by those. She felt grounded and useless. Her ankles and back ached like never before and it became difficult to move around with the weight of her belly pulling her down. Astrid had become to accept to herself that it was worth it, thought the village and her child and the burden she carried didn't seem to make things any better. But once she had her baby, things became smoother than before, at least in the physical way. Her sleep returned when Vin started to give his mother some quiet nights and her troubled mind took a rest when it was busy putting all its attention to her son. But some nights… even when Vin didn't wake her up, she missed those cries, fearing that one day they won't wake her up anymore… Somehow, when she thought about it, Vin did make things better. As he didn't let her sleep, he gave her rest.

"Good morning, Astrid, and good morning to you little Vin!" said Hoark cheerfully with his smile blooming beneath his tangled beard as they passed near the bakery. Little Vin had become his nickname, she liked it. Astrid greeted him happily, taking her son's arm in her hand and waving it to Hoark. They headed down the plaza, receiving more salutes from the Viking folk as little Vindur tried to grab his mother's braid that fell around her shoulder. It had become a nasty habit since he learned to use those hands. Vindur was playful and had his father's curiosity and hunger to explore anything within his arm's reach; he liked the toys Astrid gave him and some harmless tools from the forge and inspect them, learning how they worked. Astrid will never let him reach a weapon, at least just for now.

'He looks just like him', the first time Astrid heard that was from Gobber, who knew her husband since he was in dippers and quitter frankly, the only one around who could tell her that… Vindur indeed looked like a baby Hiccup; he had his thick auburn hair and his button nose. His eyes though, were his mother's and were full of wonder, his little hands waving around trying to grab something always and his smile that always reached his eyes.

Astrid noticed something about her son when he was a baby; one night when she just couldn't stop staring at her son's face, how tiny and beautiful he was, defenseless and fragile. When they spent time alone, just the two of them, she had inspected his face and studied him, got to know him. One day, the perfect triangle of freckles right below his right eye caught her eye. She'd seen those before, in the face of another man and noticed them in a rather similar way; in a bed with her loved one. She had fallen iin love all over again, and this kind of love made her feel the craving for her son's safety. Her child was hers and she was his. The relationship they'd built during those tow years became closer by the day. Even when her son didn't understand a word she said in the beginning, she like talking to him for hours. When he learned his first words and wouldn't stop Astrid wondered if it really was a good idea, but still loved hearing little Vin talk his senseless and incomprehensible words she loved so much to hear.

The old house of her mother-in-law came to view and Astrid put the toddler down to help him walk hand in hand. She had to knock the door a few times before Valka appeared with a smile in her face at the sight of her small grandson, whom she'd also grown to love. The child hailed as he leaped into her arms and greeted her with small kisses in her wrinkled cheeks. He seemed like a very happy kid. His loved ones always smiled in his presence and he like being around his loved ones.

He was always smiling, though when he asked for his father for the first time, he looked curious an somewhat confused. Why wasn't he here with him?

The afternoon became a little more livid as the three of them headed to the Great Hall for dinner; Little Vin was already used to the big jumble, the glee of the mass of Vikings, giving cheers and distributing the mead to their fellows. In some of his forming memories, the Vikings were not so cheerful at first, but then others greeted hi with respect and admiration. The village had grown to love him as much as his mother, after all, he was the son of the Pride of Berk some called him. He had no idea. Maybe it had something to do with his dad…

Her mother had told him how great and wonderful a man he was. Vindur wanted to know more about his father, he felt proud, but then realized how much he needed him. As much as it pained Astrid to remind herself what happened to her husband, she had to tell her son the truth, maybe he wouldn't understand, but later, when he grows up and becomes a man, Astrid wanted to make sure he understood what exactly happened to his father and reassure him that what he did before he die was the most honorable thing to do. Defend and protect his village and family with all his heart and beliefs. Astrid managed to tell her son what happened in the most subtle way possible. It was a cruel way to tell your child how his father died. She was not explicit, she didn't want to, but she did tell him the basics.

What a pitiful thing; trying to explain what death was to a little baby. It was not the way it was supposed to be, but it had to be done.

He loved his mother so much, but something was still missing… His mother had told him that one day he'd just like his father. Vindur remembered feeling joy when he heard what his father did. One day he asked his mother when he is going to come back form his heroic mission… Astrid told him he won't. In the second year of his life, he woke up yelling at his mother asking her why his father wouldn't come back, Astrid lost it there and hugged her son, trying to explain to him, make him see, and at the same time, she wanted so desperately to not tell him anything and let him live in a happy world. But that couldn't happen.

The elders and Astrid's friends saluted the trio and accompanied tem in the large council's table. They'd all decided to put Astrid into chiefing duty until her son came of age. The villagers they dared not to mention his father at all but they couldn't help but relate him in every way possible. Astrid decided it make no harm to remind the child how important his father was to the village and as chief, of course he was avowed. Now, he was welcomed and dear to everyone.

One day the elders asked Astrid if she was going to remarry and she discarded any proposition in the matter. Astrid didn't remarry, and it never even crossed her mind. Her heart never opened to anyone ever again. The only kisses that came to her skin were her son's. The only intimate love she wanted to receive from a man was her son's. Some people teased her with Eret, but both of them threw out any inappropriate proposition.

Little Vin had made a good name for himself, he became quite famed among Viking folk. The young one had became a little sassy for his own good – something he gained from his mother, Ruff once said – and with every new of the few words he's learned, he'd gained attention. There were not so many young kids in the village, so he spent most of the tie with his mother or his grandma, but th eons that were the closest to his age became friends with him, didn't spend so much time with them though. He was kind of a loner.

As Astrid's company became limited in the Haddock Household, she didn't want to spend a night without her did in the house but during the day, when she was required in the council or in training, she left him with Valka, as she loved spending the afternoon with her grandson.

Vin enjoyed being with his granny, mostly because she would talk to him about her dragon knowledge and transfer some of the family tradition to her son's heritage, enjoying every second of it herself. The child was a reminder to Valka of what had happened to her years ago with her own son. Vin looked so much like Hiccup as a baby. Sometimes, Valka secretly pretended that Vin was Hiccup and that he was a little baby again and growing up with her. It was sad to pretend that Hiccup actually grew up with her and that she had been a good mother that was there when her child needed her, a mother that watched her son grow. But this was not her child. _That_ opportunity had passed and was gone forever. That's why she loved her grandson so much; it somehow made her believe that she had a chance to see her little family grow again. Him and her daughter-in-law, now they were the only family she had left.

As for other times, Astrid spend her whole day with her son, teaching him things and showing hi how things work, telling him stories and just being there with him; talking with him or doing nothing. Those were the days Astrid loved, her son had her truly surprised by the way he saw the world, even if it was a world witnessed by a two-year old. Ruff volunteered from time to time to take care of the infant when Astrid was very busy. Once she tried with Snotlout… it didn't work out.

Astrid's behavior had become calmer for the past three years when she was with her son. Some could tell the difference when she was alone with him and when she was not. Some would tell she's still recovering from her husband's death and some would tell she just hides it when her son's around. The rumors of how Astrid handled her husband's death died when they learned she was with baby and some didn't believe she was going to make it; but Astrid proved them wrong because she displayed to be an incredible mother and a good leader to all of them during the time of her pregnancy and during the two years with her son in her arms. Astrid's life had gone sedentary and quiet since then. It was a good thing. Everything in its place. Except for…

One tired afternoon, when she had a conversation with Gobber, she broke down in front of her mentor in the middle of the forge. The blacksmith had his own love for his apprentice and was as shocked and devastated when he heard the news. But he, as well as Valka, decided it was better to help the young girl, who was less likely to surpass this episode as calmly as them. It was her first time.

Astrid still went to the cliff of Itchy Armpit, at least once a week. Just to be alone and sometimes rest in the grass and close her eyes, feeling the warm breeze of summer in her hair and heat the sound of the wind as it danced with the carrot trees. It reminded her of old times, good times. After years of going in their anniversary or in his birthday, she grew to find the place soothing instead of a torture. In those days she spent her time alone. It reminded her of him; the freedom and the immunity. Having a child didn't make feel chained or committed; it made her feel flexible and docile. A feeling she's never had before. Resting at the cliff was no longer a burden to uphold, but it was still something she liked to do alone. She never brought her son along. This was _theirs_ , and only theirs.

On the normal days, the village minded its own business, the commotion died about their chief death years ago and now things were peaceful and quiet. No more wars came after _that_ , but there were still problems Astrid had to correct and she did her duty with her village and her son. Sometimes she traveled – not for long as she didn't want to leave her son alone – and sometimes she had to attend to trading business and economic problems with other tribes.

It had turned a routine. But a really beautiful one. It still hurt watching her son grow alone. How's she going to give him the man talk? Who's going to teach him how to shave and lead the village? How's she going to teach him how to know he's found the right girl? All these questions had been wiped with a sleeve in a wet cheek and Astrid decided to not think about it until it's time She wanted to take every moment she had with her child, since she learned long ago that your loved ones are a treasure that could be taken from you if you don't watch your back. Her son was her opportunity to do that, be careful but fearless. And she was willing to take every chance to defend her son as his father did before him.

[Insert line]

 **Wooo I'm so happy! I took a lot of time and blood and sweat to get this finished! Thanks a lot for keeping up and please review, I'd like to see what you think!**

 **-HiccstridForever**


	3. Hello

_**Start brief recap:**_

 _Post HTTYD2, Hiccup and Astrid are married._

 _Hiccup leaves to make a peace treaty with the Uglithugs, promising Astrid he will come back._

 _The Uglithugs attack and kill all the riders in the Hooligan peace delegation except Hiccup (who they think they killed) and a lone rider who is sent back to Berk with a letter that insults the tribe, their chief, and the dragons, but offers peace because the deaths on both sides are payment enough._

 _Astrid is heartbroken and depressed, finds out she is pregnant but still neglects to take care of herself. Valka steps in and helps her live again._

 _Hiccup and Toothless, who is missing his harness, have escaped in a boat that is caught in a storm and lost. (this is the last we hear of Hiccup in the original author's story)_

 _Astrid learns to live without Hiccup and eventually is surprised to see Hiccup in Vindur, Hiccup and Astrid's son._

 _ **End extremely brief recap. On with the story!**_

 **~\~|~/~**

 **C** **hapter 4** **\- Hello**

.

Hiccup and Toothless had been flying for hours, outdoing their previous endurance records as endless water stretched out in front of and behind them. It had been almost three years since he had flown over these waters and he was just a few short minutes away from seeing his home again, as long as Toothless could fly that much farther. Toothless's injured wing still hampered his flying abilities and was especially troublesome on long flights such as this one.

Toothless crooned wearily, bringing Hiccup back to the present.

Hiccup patted Toothless's neck gently, "I know bud, we're almost there. You've been amazing."

But Toothless started to glide down slowly, conserving energy as the pair lost altitude.

"Hey, come on bud, stay up just a little longer – oh, OH. Good job bud! YES!" Hiccup shouted as he finally saw what his dragon had been trying to show him: a familiar sea stack was finally coming into view, and the faithful dragon had placed himself on a slow descent perfectly calculated to land the pair on the nearest edge of the sea stack.

This was it, after three years of healing and searching, Hiccup had found familiar waters and was about to arrive back home. Tomorrow the pair would land on Berk and suddenly be back in the lives of everyone who thought they were dead, and perhaps hearts would finally be permitted to begin to heal.

" _Astrid!"_ Hiccup's heart jumped. How would she have coped with his death? Did the village accept her as chief as he had asked? She had such a soft, wonderful heart hidden beneath the tough warrior shell in which she wrapped herself, and he was afraid of what had happened to it. He wasn't sure whether it would be better if she was still broken or if she had healed. If she was broken, perhaps his return could pull the pieces back together, but could she ever fully heal from such deep heartbreak for so long? On the other hand if she had healed, would she still want him back or would she have moved on, putting another man in his place at her side?

 _His place._ His mind insisted on creating a thousand awful possibilities. What was his place? Was he still chief? Would he even have a place anymore?

Once again Toothless brought Hiccup's mind back to the real world by shifting his flight pattern. Hiccup looked up, or rather down, and saw a woman standing on his sea stack. His mind raced through the possibilities of who it might be, but he forced it all to the back of his mind in favor of focusing on staying on his dragon as it approached the sea stack to land behind the woman. The woman was Astrid, he was sure of that now that he could see her flaxen braid blowing in the freezing and stiff wind. He couldn't mistake her for anyone else, it just wasn't possible.

Toothless grunted at the pain his landing had caused, alerting Astrid to their arrival. She spun quickly, ax in hand but stopped just short of the throw upon seeing Hiccup practically fall off the back of the night fury and race towards her, though after riding for so long Hiccup's current version of racing was more of a pathetic and painful looking lope.

As excited as he was, seeing Astrid standing rigidly with her ax pointed at his neck stopped Hiccup from closing the distance between them. Instead, he spoke the only words he could force out of his lips with his mind in the jumbled mess that it currently was.

"Astrid?"

Hiccup waited, and when no response was forthcoming he glanced back at Toothless to see his beloved dragon peacefully curled up on a rock, drawing slow breaths and already fast asleep.

 _Well, no help from him I guess._

He tried again. "Astrid?"

Hiccup's brain finally arrived and kicked into high gear, words beginning to gush out in spite of the tears already starting to stream down his face. He made no move to clear his eyes, he just didn't have the energy.

"I - I know it has to be you because only you and I know Itchy Armpit, and - and no one else on Berk looks like you. I guess someone else could dress up as you like when we dressed you up as Heather but only you could _ever_ look at me like you are right now and I - I was going to find a way to break my arrival to you more softly, but I couldn't make it to Berk tonight and I didn't want any old stranger to tell you so I haven't stopped since well _way_ off the map I was creating sitting right here on this rock with you, actually." He did his best to look her in the eyes, though the tears made that impossible.

His head was starting to feel very heavy. "I'm sorry if I scared you when we landed, but can we sit down? I don't think I can stand up much longer. We've been flying for a really long time these past couple of days, and - and -"

Weak from exertion, injury, and sleep loss, Hiccup toppled over onto the ground on his side, but in doing so finally broke Astrid from her stupor.

Astrid had watched and listened as the dream in front of her unfolded. Disbelief melted into shock, and shock into fear as her beloved spoke words she barely heard, but she recognized the story and the unique manner in which it was being told. She had not believed her own eyes and ears until that soft sigh had escaped Hiccup's lips as he crumpled to the ground unconscious and still. _Ve_ _ry_ still.

Astrid walked slowly towards the figure lying motionless on the ground before her, forgetting even her ax wedged in the ground behind her after it had slipped from her hands.

Emotions pierced her heart so strongly she found herself unable to hold her upright stature any longer and fell to her knees on the tall, soft grass.

She crouched by his prone body and gently brushed her fingers along the side of his face, quietly assuring herself of his existence. He truly was real. She had imagined his return: the hundreds of ways he could return dead, or the thousands of ways he could return and be horribly maimed and broken, but never had he arrived like this, this was just too _Hiccup_ to be anything other than real.

When she finally spoke it was so soft not even the wind was sure it heard her.

"Hi-Hiccup?" She gasped his name as she slowly ghosted her fingers down his arms and body, checking for signs of any obvious trauma. Finding none, she gently held is head to prevent it from lolling painfully as she lightly rolled him onto his back, sighing in relief at the sight of his chest rising and falling slowly.

He was alive.

She collapsed across his chest, her body wracked with sobs she could hold in no longer.

Hiccup slowly peered through his eyelids when a heavy weight fell across his chest, seeing only golden locks filling his vision. He fearfully sucked a breath in through his nose, but relaxed as he smelled the oh so familiar and comforting smell of his wife's hair.

 _Astrid!_ His mind danced like a child on Snoggletog morning.

He brushed the hair off his face and gazed at the woman trembling on top of him, noticing the stress lines, a few new wrinkles, and fear. His Astrid was afraid.

Oh how much he longed to wipe away all the cares and worries clouding her visage, but he knew such peace required healing, and healing would come with time. He would be patient.

He tightly encircled her with his arms, leaving space for her to escape if she wished to withdraw from his embrace, but still holding her close to his heart. She responded by throwing her arms around his neck, still unable to control the emotions raging inside of her. Neither of them had any idea how long they lay against each other, drinking in the comfort of their lover's arms, but it didn't matter, for time was of no consequence: they had finally found their way back to each other.

As they lay in each other's embrace, he gently drew small swirls across her skin as she idly played with the mess that was everything left of the braids she had so carefully woven in his hair three years ago.

 _He kept them._ She smiled to herself, idly flicking the braids against his neck.

"They were the only piece of you I had with me," Hiccup quietly expressed. "I did my best to keep them, but I really doubt they would have stayed much longer without your attentions."

He looked down into her eyes, "Say something Milady, please. I - I need to hear your voice again."

"I love you." was all she could manage. She did her best to compel her eyes convey volumes, but she had no idea what else to say, she was just too full right now. Thankfully Stormfly's return saved her from needing to wax poetic any longer.

Stormfly squawked merrily, not only at the sight of Toothless and Hiccup, but because after three years her beloved rider was finally relaxed and happy. To Stormfly, loosing Hiccup and Toothless had stripped a safety net from under her and forced her into position as the new lead dragon. She didn't want the position, but it was hers and she bore the responsibility with grace, trying to emulate Toothless. Which worked all right most of the time, but she couldn't back it up like Toothless could, it just wasn't her job. She was a born follower, but she did what she was called upon to do.

The blue and white dragon quickly strode over to Hiccup and lowered her head before him allowing him to reach out and place his hand on her beak, chirping softly as Hiccup rubbed her scales.

"Thanks for being here for Astrid while I was gone, I owe you." He gave her a pat on the muzzle and with a happy squawk she left to welcome her other long lost friend.

Hiccup and Astrid finally sat up, each facing the other.

"How are you, really?" Hiccup asked, carefully watching Astrid's eyes for any clues to her well being. "I've never before seen such fear in your eyes. It scares me Astrid. What has happened since – well, you know."

Astrid spoke slowly, unable to look into his eyes for long but finding it impossible to let her gaze wander far from the emerald gems. "We received a message from the Uglithugs that, well, that you and all our riders were dead. I went to confirm and they-they showed us the burnt remains of your armor and the bodies of the rest of your team. No one had survived. Except Lars, the one they sent as a messanger. I kept hoping and waiting for you to return, that by some miracle you escaped, but as the months slipped past I knew your chances, which had been slim to start with, had shrunk too much. And by then - oh gods, I forgot! - "

"Hey Hey, it's okay," Hiccup reacted as her eyes widened, "I _would_ like to hear that story sometime, but I think I have a pretty good guess what happened. I need to know how _you_ are, what has changed? What will I be when I come back?"

Astrid nodded in understanding. "You will be chief again." She punched is arm, "Thanks for telling me you had made me next in line."

"I didn't know." He stated simply and she shot him a questioning gaze. "The elders stubbornly took forever to decide; I never knew what they chose."

"Oh"

"So they actually make you chief?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"They did, whatever good it really did, for the most part Valka ran the place until - " She stopped cold and chewed her lip.

Hiccup was confused, "Valka ran Berk until what? Were you injured?"

"No," she spoke softly, "but my life did change, I just don't know to tell you what happened."

Hiccup hung his head, whispering hoarsely, "Did you meet someone?"

"What? No!" her eyes shot back up, locking her gaze on his concerned face. "I could never move on from you, especially not after I found out what was wrong with me."

"Wrong with you? You're perfect Astrid, there is nothing wrong with you, and whoever told you so can answer to me." Her expression remained thoughtful as she registered his words. Noticing her hesitance, Hiccup grasped her hands firmly but carefully and asked slowly, "What was wrong with you?"

"Oh Hiccup, I want to tell you but I don't know how. I want to to be happy about it, and look forward to what time we will all have together, but I just don't know how to tell you."

Her head drooped forward and Hiccup smiled, "Trust me? Don't worry about how to say it, just start. I'll let you speak until you think I understand, okay?"

She smiled tiredly, "It isn't like that. I know you will understand, but I really want you to be happy about it."

Astrid peeked up to see a baffled expression on his face and barely stifled a giggle.

Hiccup couldn't find it in him to be upset, but shot her a light glare anyway. "I really don't see what is so funny."

"I was pregnant."

"What?" He searched her face for jest, but found none, just a fearful heart waiting for a reaction. "I'm a father?" She nodded, watching him carefully. "Oh Thor, I finally become a Dad and leave for the first two years of the poor child's life. This is great, I'm an awful person, she - or is it a he? - probably hates me. I -"

"Hiccup!" Astrid interrupted sternly, "You spent three years fighting to return to me, right?" He nodded silently. "You did everything you could, and you won, you came back to me. That is all that matters, trust me now, okay?"

He nodded and smiled sadly at her, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A wonderful little boy; I named him Vindur. He looks so much like you."

"Named after the winds; it's a good name." Hiccup groaned softly, "The poor guy has my looks?"

Astrid nodded affirmatively. "And I happen to like these looks, so don't you _dare_ go around putting yourself down."

Hiccup shrugged, "I guess he can't win them all. Milady, you should return to Berk."

She raised her eyebrow incredulously. "You think I am going to leave you? No way! Not for at least the next twelve hours."

"That specific?"

"I just want you to be prepared; it seemed like a good number."

"Are we just going to camp out here then?"

She laughed, "No, Stormfly and I will fly you both back to Berk. It will be dark when we get home and we can sneak in and wait till morning to tell anyone."

"Hmm, I can work with -" he was cut off when Astrid locked her lips over his and his brain simply fried itself, with nothing left but the sensation of soft flesh sucking on his lips as he gladly returned the affection, only stopping when the necessity for oxygen cut them off.

"Oh I could _so_ get used to this again." Hiccup slurred out of his dazed face.

As usual Astrid recovered first, jumped up and dragged him to where their dragons rested. "Come on, we need to get going."

~\~|~/~


	4. Hope and Fear

_**Today is a special day, so I decided to give you all another chapter. - De Amicus**_

 **.**

 **Chapter 5 - Hope and Fear**

Startled by a weight across her midsection, Astrid shot from sleep to consciousness in less time than it takes a Terrible Terror to decide if it will be a terror that day. She grasped the knife she slept with and neatly pounced on the sleeping figure beside her, holding the knife to his throat as _he_ woke with wide eyes. Seeing Hiccup frozen stiff and pinned beneath her blade she gasped, dropping the knife on the bed. She groaned and sat down on his lap.

"Ugh, I guess I'm not used to sleeping with someone anymore." She apologized before looking down at Hiccup to see his eyes dancing with amusement and a wide smirk plastered across his face. "What are you looking at, _dragon boy_."

"Oh, I just got a dose of deja vu. Remember our wedding morning?" Hiccup laughed.

"Be quite you, you'll wake up the village." Astrid retorted. She opened her mouth to say more but closed it again. That was, after all, exactly how she had woken him up the day after their wedding.

Deciding against speaking, she instead threw herself down on top of him and hugged him tightly. "I've missed you so much. Can we just stay here for a while?"

"For a few minutes, but milady, people will come looking for you. We probably should be found when we - I don't know - have on more clothes?

Astrid's eyes widened as she remembered their state of undress. They had arrived too late to be bothered to put on nightclothes; instead sleeping under a heap of furs in a comfortable amount of their underthings. Meaning essentially nothing.

"Get up! Now!" She ordered as she pushed him out of bed.

"Hey hey, what's the rush? Ouch." he grunted as he landed on the floor with a thud.

"Get dressed, Now!" Astrid demanded as she sped through an explanation. "Any second now our son is going to barge in here either for snuggles or to wake up his tardy mother. And while I _do_ want you to meet him, I don't want him to meet you _in bed_ _, naked_ _!_ "

"Aww, he comes in for snuggles? That's so adorable." Hiccup crooned mischievously.

"That's all you heard? Really?" Astrid shook her head as she tried to hide a smile.

"Of course not," Hiccup replied as he pulled on his armor, "Where would you like me to hide, milady."

Astrid chewed her lip for a moment before answering, "Take Toothless and hide above the Great Hall. We have a counsel meeting today and you and me are going to crash it."

Surprised, Hiccup inquired, "They have counsel meetings without you?"

Astrid nodded, "Yeah, for the small things with which I don't need to bothered."

"That's not a bad idea, it would save a lot of chiefing time."

She smiled, "I'm glad you approve, now go hide. I'll come get you when it is time."

"Milady, I love you with all my heart." he declared as he pulled her in for a sweet kiss.

"Oh stop it, you'll make me cry again, and that will worry Vindur." She spoke with twinkling eyes.

"Good man." Hiccup stated as he crawled out the window and sneaked off with Toothless.

~\~|~/~

Hiccup was bored. Of all the ways he had imagined his return to Berk, none of them included him lounging around with nothing to do for hours while he waited for his secret contact to arrive. He hadn't even bothered to watch the time assuming he wouldn't need to wait long, but the ground surrounding him and Toothless was now adorned with dragon drawings in place of the natural wind-smoothed texture. Even Toothless had given up watching Hiccup doodle, opting to take a not-so-quick nap instead.

Hiccup sighed, if he wasn't careful he would fall asleep as well, and he'd probably snore, attract a herd of wild terrible terrors, and Gustav would accidentally trip over him, spilling the beans to the entire island. No, that wouldn't do; he'd just have to stay awake.

Noise from a disturbance in the village caught his attention and he poked his head out from behind the tree to see what was causing it. Unable to see anything interesting he almost sat back down, but froze as the sun shone off of the golden hair of a certain chieftess masterfully giving orders and calming crowds after whatever had happened. Oh, and the twins were there, that might explain it. Astrid quickly sorted out what needed to be done and flew off on Stormfly.

A few moments later Astrid and Stormfly landed beside him with a flourish; the rider jumping off in one fluid motion.

"Hey babe. I figured that in spite of your night fury you didn't manage to sneak lunch, so I brought you some." Astrid called out as she sauntered over to where Hiccup was standing.

"Thanks, I missed breakfast as well, so I've been pretty hungry." Hiccup admitted.

Astrid paused for a short second, "Oh, I forgot. I would have at least sent Sharpshot to you with some bread."

"Eh, don't worry about it, I've had it a lot worse the past couple of years. Besides, you were busy chiefing, and doing a fine job of it too."

She sighed softly, feeling the tension drain out of her as he pulled her close and embraced her.

"I still should have sent you something to eat." She decided as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You couldn't have."

Astrid looked up at him, "And why not?" She questioned.

Hiccup chuckled, "Because Sharpshot came and found me here _hours_ ago, see?"

He held up his arm, waiting only a short time before the small green dragon happily joined them.

Hiccup hummed thoughtfully, "I watched you handle the villagers. I think you did such a good job maybe I'll just leave you as chief. Then I could -"

Astrid pulled away slightly and looked at him sharply, "You aren't seriously considering trying to pull a stunt like that, are you? Do you have any idea the rioting we - oh wait, I - would have to control?"

"Relax Astrid, I would never ignore my duties." Hiccup soothed.

The tone of his voice convinced her he had previously spoken in jest and she relaxed, sitting back onto the ground.

~\~|~/~

Hiccup quietly finished his lunch, looking over at Astrid where she had stretched out on the grass. They had carried on quiet conversation until her eyelids began to droop and Hiccup, noticing her exhaustion, had allowed her to fall asleep rather than force the conversation to continue.

He sighed, he had experienced more than one horrible recurring nightmare in which he found Astrid dead because _he_ had failed to protect her, _he_ had failed to be there. He shuddered, and a single tear marred his complexion as he silently turned away lest he weep at the quite beauty around him, but mainly at the sleeping valkyrie before him.

"Hiccup?" A soft, careful voice interrupted his thoughts, "Are you okay?"

Scolding himself for loosing his composure he turned around, greeting Astrid with the best smile he could create without appearing too obviously fake.

"Oh Hiccup."

She may have had more to say, but Hiccup cut her off with a firm kiss on the lips, a kiss that sung of sorrow and hurt and need. Breaking the kiss, he guided her back towards the waiting dragons.

Astrid kept her arm around his waist and kissed his shoulder as they walked.

"If you need - or want - to talk, I'm here. You don't have to, but trust me, I'd understand."

"I know." He spoke huskily. "Not now though."

"Right." She sighed, "Time to bring you back to life."

~\~|~/~

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished viking comrades, fellow defenders of Berk and guardians of its moral integrity, -"

" _Astrid._ " Hiccup managed through the laughter threatening to erupt from his mouth.

As soon as the pair had crashed the council meeting the blond had become slightly euphoric, adding flourishes and exaggerated hand gestures to her movements for dramatic affect. Between seeing Hiccup casually stroll into their meeting and watching Astrid's movements the entire council was momentarily spell bound.

 _"Nothing has changed."_ Hiccup mused as he watched Astrid bounce her shoulders in an interpretation of his famous movements.

"Too much?" The lady in question asked playfully as she looked back over her shoulder.

Hiccup rolled his eyes; he was sure Astrid was enjoying this way too much. "Milady, you were hilarious."

"Aw, thanks babe."

"But I really want to get all these formal introductions over with so we can move on to all the problems my return will cause."

Astrid pouted, "Well that's a bummer cause I was on a roll, but if anyone causes problems about your return I'll drop the mutton-headed half-troll in a well. Probably a deep, narrow well. Maybe a whispering death hole?"

Hiccup's sarcasm reemerged to generate a quick reply. "Thank you, I no longer have _any_ fear for life and limb. You should finish your speech quickly though, before Gobber explodes."

Hiccup ended with a slight twinge of worry in his voice.

Astrid lolled her head around to face the council. The spellbound group sat unchanged with the exception of Gobber, who was turning successively deeper shades of red and was now somewhere in the deep crimson color range.

"Is there even a name for a red that dark?" Astrid asked Hiccup.

"There must be. What did you call the color of that red silk out of which you sewed that, ahem, _garment_?"

"Ooh, I don't know, it was an old scrap from Mom's fabric stash. Speaking of that, I still haven't told her I used it."

"Still? That was five years ago!"

Astrid shrugged, "Eh, time flies."

"Laddie?" Gobber interrupted.

"Yes Gobber?" Hiccup waited.

"It really is you?"

"As much of me as there was before, well, my disappearing act, but less than, say, about ten years ago when - "

"Aye, its you. Come er' and give ol' Gobber a proper hello." Gobber interrupted as he hobbled around the table and squeezed the thin figure soundly.

"Gobber, _air!_ " Gobber set Hiccup down, not even bothering to acknowledge the lean viking's discomfort.

"Now," Gobber spoke as he sat back down on his stool. "What problems did yer think yer return would cause?"

"For one, I must somehow prove who I am and -"

"Does the council object that this man is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, returned Chief of the Hairy Hooligans and my husband?" Astrid questioned the counsel shortly, her voice making it clear she thought the question was ridiculous.

"No? Good. Hiccup, looks like you're actually Hiccup, although if you were an impostor you'd I think I would have figured it out last night."

"I would sincerely hope so." Hiccup deadpanned.

"What else do I need to fix?" Astrid quizzed.

"Uh, yeah well, there is this old tradition that if a chief is lost in war, unable to return but not dead, when he does return he has to prove he isn't a coward."

"Seriously? No one would dare think you are a coward." Astrid replied incredulously.

"Of co'rse yer father taught you _that_ tradition." Gobber muttered under his breath. "Ner you worry Astrid, I think I can solve this one up fer ya real quick. Lad, look at me and don't look away 'til I say."

"Um, okay?" Hiccup complied, curious as to what his mentor was thinking could fix what Hiccup believed was a complex issue. From what his Dad had taught him, Chief trials often included feats of valor, proofs of skill, and demonstrations of wisdom. It made Hiccup feel uneasy to think of trying to accomplish such tasks at the moment. Despite the lazy morning, he was tired. He had not slept well, instead holding Astrid close and drifting in and out of sleep many times during the night, only to finally fall asleep a mere hour or so before he should be awake and preparing to reveal his return to the village.

At first Gobber just sat quietly in his chair and stared straight into the Hiccup's eyes. Astrid eyes flicked back and forth between the pair but rested on the other council members, noting the curious expressions painted on their faces. She did not like lack of confidence she could feel radiating off of Hiccup, nor did she enjoy lacking the ability to encourage him. She had absolutely no idea what was transpiring in front of her. She was _chief_ , was she not? She should know all about these traditions, including the loopholes she could exploit in order to expedite this ridiculous test of Hiccup's character. Unfortunately, _Hiccup_ was the one possessing a lifetime of instruction tuned to grow his leadership and diplomacy skills. She had only been in chief training for two years, and the actual chiefing had taken a higher priority than memorizing obscure and seldom used sections of traditions buried in the dusty archives of Berkian law. Although she trusted Gobber with her own and her husband's lives, she would much rather be directing this trial than merely looking on as an observer.

Fortunately for Astrid's anxiety, Gobber's plan was not overly time consuming. The minute or so of intense staring was abruptly interrupted when blacksmith swiftly dashed around the table and sprinted towards Hiccup. Gobber's braided mustache flying wildly as a guttural yell resonated throughout the hall, the wild man raising his hook when he barreled on towards Hiccup.

Hiccup stood still, his cool composure undisturbed throughout the ordeal. He had become quite familiar with the wide range of expressions that could cross his mentor's face. The stare currently aimed at him was meant to be blistering, capable of causing paint to peel and men to loose more than just their courage, but Hiccup was used to the stare and the man. Besides, he had seem much worse in the past few years, a thought which nearly caused him to shudder, but he steeled himself and overcame the emotional turmoil. With startling clarity Hiccup realized that in this moment he was not scared, he wasn't even lacking confidence anymore. He remembered every piece of the combat training Astrid had taught him, along with a few new skills he acquired while wandering aimlessly.

Watching as Gobber charged him, Hiccup observed the world around him slow to a gritty grind. He saw Gobber's fake tooth and how it wobbled slightly, noting it would fly out of Gobber's mouth if the man was punched. Hiccup observed the dust and smoke in the air of the hall mix and churn, and he heard that troublesome yak attacking the food stores once more. He had half a mind to bark an order at the next free viking to go catch the beast. However, the orders stuck in his throat due to other sensations tickling his senses. Astrid was standing next to him and emanating the same strong presence he had often found so comforting, but this was different, some more unusual emotions seemed to rage within her and he felt it. He could hear the breath she slowly inhaled, and suddenly he recognized the emotion: fear. Hiccup was simultaneously furious so much fear had forced its way into her life, and utterly proud of her courage for standing with him, she was even prepared to fight and was clutching a dagger hidden in a concealed holster.

Time rapidly resumed its normal breakneck pace and without neglecting to glare at Gobber, Hiccup flashed a quick smile at his beloved before turning all his focus onto Gobber, and watching the hook rise high in the air to strike, Hiccup made his move. Having launched both hands up to catch the arm and adjusting his feet to maximize traction, Hiccup waited. The blow landed with a resonating thud and Hiccup's feet slid back an inch or so but the man stayed upright, the spikes on his prosthetic leg scraping shallow channels into the stone floor.

"Yield." Hiccup commanded sharply, but Gobber was not moved by the order.

Hiccup shifted his stance to provide more support to his left arm and let go of Gobber with his right hand. He bunched his right hand into a fist and the gauntlet on that arm burst into flame, which he held in front of Gobber's face. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke once again.

"Yield." Once again the simple command was stated, and this time Gobber's face softened.

"Aye," the blacksmith agreed and ended the furious staring contest. "The lad ne'er took his eyes off me, he's as strong as ever."

Blinking at how easily and rapidly the 'trial' had concluded, Hiccup remembered his observations and looked over to Astrid. He made a move to embrace her, but was surprised when she recoiled with wide eyes.

"Put that out first, _dragon boy._ " She instructed serious but playful in tone of voice.

"Oh." He shook his arm to put the fire out. "Sorry, that would have hurt. I should have paid more attention."

"Just figured that out?" She quipped while grinning at him.

"Come here you." Hiccup grinned right back at her as he looped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"Ahem." The pair looked up into the amused eyes of the council and shifted to stand side by side facing the council.

"The council of elders of the tribe of the Hairy Hooligans of the island of Berk has reached a verdict on the abilities of Chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Once thought to be dead, he has now returned alive and his identity has been verified by the Chieftess of Berk and his wife, Chieftess Astrid Hofferson."

Gobber would have droned on longer, but due to the fact he had participated in the test of will, Gothi stood up and ordered Gobber to translate the rest of the speech.

"The Chief endured a trial of strength and will with great solitude - _whack -_ er,fortitude, proving his capability to resume the pole - patience woman, I see that's not what you wrote - _role_ of Chief of the Hairy Hooligans. That is, unless Astrid wishes to challenge you for the position."

"You've got to be kidding me. Job's all yours babe, you were born for it." She stated, slipping an arm around his neck and pulling his head down for a solid kiss.

"You'd 'av thought I said _kiss the bride_ , not _you_ _'_ _r_ _e_ _the chief._ " Gobber muttered under his breath.

"All right Hiccup, take the rest of the day off. Settle in, 'av some quality time with yer family."

After thanking Gobber and shaking hands with the rest of the council, except for Gothi, who smiled warmly and held his shoulder, Hiccup nodded in agreement and he lead his wife from the hall to face the village. But first, he was going to meet his son.


	5. My Dada

**Chapter 6 - My Dada**

"So, what's next?" Astrid asked as they strolled towards their dragons.

"I want to meet my son." Hiccup stated but meekly added, "If that's alright with you?"

Astrid laughed, "I'm not sure why you think I wouldn't want you to meet him."

"Maybe you wanted to introduce the idea slowly?"

"Hmm, don't see the benefit of drawing it out. So, where to?"

"Wherever Vindur is, right?" Hiccup looked puzzled.

"Oh, I should have been more clear." Astrid expressed apologetically. "I meant where do you want to meet Vindur. If we stay here we will quickly get mobbed, if we go home they will be banging down the walls and doors, and that just sounds like the perfect environment to meet your son in. Definitely won't worry him at all."

"Isn't sarcasm supposed to be my thing?" Hiccup spoke as he raised an eyebrow, "I get what you mean though, how about the cove? Has it stayed fairly quiet or is it no longer a place for our secret meetings?"

"Most of the gang visits it on occasion, usually when missing you, although some of them will never admit it."

Hiccup rubbed his eyes. "I doesn't really matter anyway, you have to go get Vindur and someone is bound to ask you where you are going."

"True"

"How about this: I fly off somewhere close and you use Stormfly's tracking abilities to find me. That way you can say you are going for a flight checking up on the island a bit."

Hiccup and Astrid both jumped to the ready at the introduction of a new voice into the conversation.

"I think that could have worked before _I_ heard about it, but it is now doomed because of the Snot's awesomeness."

Snotlout neatly rounded the end of the open door to the Great Hall and stared at Hiccup.

"So it really is you," Snotlout stated pretentiously, "and the phantom black shape in the night hanging pathetically from the claws of a Deadly Nadder was Toothless."

Hiccup wasn't sure how to react, but Snotlout took the opportunity afforded by Hiccup's hesitance and jumped forward to hug Hiccup, squeezing to chief long and hard before putting him back down on the ground.

"Oh Thor I've missed you so much! Astrid made be do all sorts of _work_ , can you believe it? Work! Yeah, didn't think you would believe it. Anyway, you should come see my family. We live right around the corner in a great big house _I_ built just for Minden and I. It -"

"That's great Snot," Hiccup interrupted, "but I am going to go meet _my_ family first if you don't mind."

Seeing that Snotlout was about to start up again, Hiccup decided to stop him before he could even begin.

"Actually, I am going to go to my family now whether you mind or not, okay?"

"Of course Hiccup, I was just trying to make you feel at home. I get it, go to your family, but promise me you will come around soon, Minden will kill me if I don't get you to come over." Snotlout asked hopefully.

Hiccup had absolutely no idea how family politics had changed in the past three years, so he looked to Astrid so see if the request was reasonable. She gave a slight nod of affirmation and he accepted, relieved that no unforgivable feuds had torn Berk's leading families apart in his absence.

"We'll come over when we can, but I literally _just_ got back, so it might be a day or two."

"Right on Hic-man, see you then! Oh, and I'll try to keep the others off your back until you're ready. Snotman Oi Oi Oi!" He yelled as he turned and walked down the street.

Hiccup shook his head, "Nothing has changed, has it."

Astrid smiled widely, "You'll see. A few new babies, some new love, Gustav has a girlfriend, -"

"Hold up, Gustav found a girl willing to tolerate him enough to count as being his girlfriend?" Hiccup asking incredulously.

"Yup, in reality Gustav changed a lot, it was a really good thing when he apprenticed under Dagur and failed. It taught him quite a bit about how dangerous his arrogance could be. After you disappeared he was ready and able to step up and take on some responsibilities."

"Wow, good for him, I'm glad some good came out of my absence." Hiccup kicked a pebble restlessly. "I'll go hide now, you know the plan, right?"

"Babe, that is the simplest task I have been given all week. Go have fun hiding, I'll be right behind you."

"Yes ma'am." Hiccup replied with a raised eyebrow and sassy tilt of the head. He leaned over, planting a quick kiss on her lips before jumping onto Toothless and flying off.

Astrid sighed and turned back towards the village, starting to walk to where Valka would be sitting with Vindur and teaching him his runes.

~\~|~/~

Toothless was starting to get annoyed. He had been watching Hiccup all day and his human refused to calm down for even a few seconds. He had been pacing all day. Toothless had been sleeping peacefully, warmed by the dying embers of the long forgotten fire in the Haddock's common room when he had been rudely awakened by a crash from the bedroom upstairs. The crash was followed by excited voices and orders to hide in the forest. He had not even been allowed go catch some fish. And after dutifully following his human friend all day, his afternoon nap was being interrupted by _more pacing._ Ten steps to the right, followed by ten steps to the left, and back again. Ugh, where was that female human? She always managed to calm Hiccup down no matter how worked up he had managed to become.

 _Click click click_ even the prosthetic was bothering Toothless, which was unusual because it meant the dragon knew where Hiccup was and whether or not he was okay.

Ten steps to the left, ten steps to the right.

For once could he please just sit down like a normal human? But what is that smell? It smelled strongly of Astrid, but different. It also kind of smelled of Hiccup, but not as strongly. He could now hear footsteps, four feet coming into contact with the ground as they approached. Okay, Astrid was one of the coming humans, but who was the other? Toothless could smell nothing much different that Hiccup and Astrid, but something was off. The last time he had smelled anything this much like Hiccup was - Stoick? But - oh, Hiccup must have a hatchling, was that why he was nervous? That would be dumb, but for such a smart human, it seemed to fit that he would worry about such a thing as having a hatchling. Fine, let Hiccup worry himself as much as he liked, Toothless would stand by him no matter what.

"You hear them bud?" Hiccup had caught on to Toothless's extra attention to the forest. "Stop worrying, stop worrying everything will be fine, Astrid said so."

As Astrid and Vindur approached, Hiccup stopped for a moment to pet the head of his faithful dragon. All his insecurities, all the worries piled up from countless sleepless nights as a wandering vagrant kept surfacing and trying to tear him apart, but even if he had very little confidence in his own abilities he had faith in Astrid. He was confidant he could be proud of her and the child no matter what the child thought of him.

Astrid and Vindur were now so close that although he was unable to see the pair, he could hear Astrid's voice. Inspite of Hiccup being sure she knew exactly where he was, he still felt as if he was eavesdropping.

"Vindur," Astrid spoke softly, "Someone very important is here to meet you, do you know who it is?"

"No?" Replied a small voice after a few moments.

"Vindur, the man is your father."

"Dada?" curiosity was evident in the small voice.

"Yes, I know he has been gone a long time but he came back as soon as he could." Astrid paused momentarily, "Do you want to meet him?"

The child must have nodded, because a few moments later Astrid walked into the small clearing. The child clung to her legs, but the moment Hiccup saw him he understood what she had meant. The skinny little form, the red hair, the bright emerald eyes and the curious wonder they projected all spoke of the long past years of Hiccup's youth.

"Vindur?" Hiccup called softly, unsure if he should speak or not. He was surprised when Vindur spoke boldly.

"You look ike thu piture!" Vindur declared with wide eyes. "You my Dada?" He questioned more softly, but took a step away from Astrid's side.

"Yes Vindur, I am your father." Hiccup spoke as he knelt down on one knee. "Astrid - uh - Mommy said you are a good boy and take good care of her, thank you. I -"

Hiccup was interrupted by an armful of child launching himself into his arms. "Dada I miss you so much Mama a'ways say yoo 'ome back but then Mama not say so a-any-anymore and I got af-afw- like after bad dweam?"

"Afraid?" Hiccup volunteered as he wrapped his son in a warm hug, noting that this time _his son_ was the one babbling.

"Afwaid! But now yoo back yoo make Ommy 'appy like other Ommys 'appy with Dadas."

"Oh Vindur I love you so much, I love you so much." Much like the time he had seen Astrid back on Itchy Armpit, Hiccup had no idea what else to say, so he gently held and rocked the affectionate child.

"I wuv yoo too Dada." Vindur spoke, but also looked back at Astrid. "Ommy hug too?" He spoke as he reached out to her.

Astrid smiled, and after wiping away the tears that threatened to spill down her face she walked forward and wrapped her arms around Vindur and onto Hiccup. The family sat on the ground, for the first time complete as each one held the other so desperately close. Vindur sighed contentedly against Hiccup's chest, and Hiccup felt something inside his very being change. He had come so close to losing all of this and dooming Astrid to a life of widowhood. Leaving Astrid behind was one thing, and though, should he be granted entrance he would find a way to wait to enter Valhalla until she was ready to join him, she was strong and could survive. But this child, this small form, these tiny bones, the soft hands, the smooth and oh so miniature movement of minuscule lungs, the arms that could barely reach around his neck; how could he have come so close to failing such a trusting child, _his_ child? Anger burned inside of him, but he knew this was not the time for it. This was the time to hold his wife and son, right now, in this moment, their family was whole.

~\~|~/~

"Ommy look! Me 'wide Oothless!" Vindur giggled with glee as Astrid joyfully kept a watchful eye on her almost three year old as he kept Toothless company.

Hiccup was off settling yet another dispute between villagers and she was starting to wonder if they had disputes just so he would come and they could see him. It was now three weeks since his sudden return to the island of Berk; he had readjusted to life back on Berk at a reasonable pace, not that she would have complained if he needed another week or two to 'heal'. She still woke up every night to check if he had indeed returned, and each time her worries were quickly dispelled by the sensation of his warmth radiating through her body. At the memories of her nightmares she shuddered internally, refusing to show such weakness except to her husband behind the privacy of closed doors. Unable to sleep much lately, many a night she had laid in bed next to him and with her eyes traced both the new and old the scars adorning his body. She recalled watching as Vindur first met Hiccup. At first Vindur had been bravely curious, but as soon as the child had seen his father he had relaxed. Whether it was due to the description of Hiccup's moral character or the highly accurate picture of Hiccup Astrid had commissioned from Bucket, she did not know. But as Vindur had placed his hands on Hiccups cheeks and looked into his father's eyes she had seen the child accept Hiccup as the man he had heard so much about.

These three weeks had been kind to the Haddock family, the village was at peace with the neighboring tribes, trade was flowing freely, and the villagers had been busy enough to keep out of most sorts of trouble. Astrid was still having nightmares about Hiccup, but they had yet to talk about them, the couple just hadn't found the time.

" _Well, that's the last of them."_ Astrid thought as she hung some herbs to dry. _"Where is Hiccup? Those villagers are always making him late for supper and if I have to straighten them out one more time one of those sons of a half - Oh, there he is!"_

"Hiccup!" She called out with a sassy hand on her hip and a smile across her lips. "What did I tell you about making the villagers fix their own problems during suppertime?"

Hiccup pretended to ponder the question. "Hmm, cook the yak for them because they are all hopeless cooks?"

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Cause that would straighten them out: feed them and provide them with free cooking services."

"Okay, maybe that isn't what you said, but whatever you have cooking smells wonderful and I am _starving._ "

"Tonight is mutton stew and potatoes, but with a new spicing you haven't tried before."

"Oh no," He feigned distress, "Should I be afraid?"

"Nah, Valka has tried this one before, it's not too bad. Vindur seems to like it."

"Well let's go eat it, we wouldn't want it to get cold." He added sincerely. "Vindur, Toothless; time to come eat!"

A small 'Yay!' Was heard from the direction of the child and dragon, and both parents chuckled at their sons antics.

Dinner was well cooked and tasty, and Hiccup knew he would need to be careful how much he ate lest he start to look like his Father in yet another manner. Night fell as the family chatted about their day, thoughts, plans, a cool 'wock' which Vindur had dug up from the garden, and the understood but oft vocalized gratefulness for the time they now shared together. The youngster's bedtime approached rapidly; Hiccup and Astrid retiring shortly after to try to catch up on sleep that seemed to elude them expertly.


	6. Nightmares

**Chapter 7 - Nightmares**

 _~\~|~/~_

 _ **A/N – Chapter trigger and gore warnings. This chapter contains mention of painful events, nightmares, death, and gore. It probably isn't as bad as I am making it sound, but please proceed at own caution.**_

 _~\~|~/~_

Hiccup woke from his nightmare with a start, drinking in the ceiling joist and roof tiles. To anyone else they may seem ordinary, but they provided immense relief to Hiccup after the hot branding irons and literal beds of coals his dreams courted. After habitually feeling around for Astrid, he gently laid his hand on the cold, clammy skin of his shaking wife. Instantly knowing something was wrong Hiccup scooted closer, quickly realizing that she was sitting up and desperately clutching herself with her arms. Ignoring his own cold-sweat drenched body, Hiccup gently skimmed her bare arm with the backs of his fingers, noting how her fingernails had nearly pierced the flesh on her arms. When she barely reacted to his touch he quietly enveloped her in a comforting embrace. She stiffened momentarily, sensed who it was, and melted into his arms as she sobbed.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm here. It's okay." Hiccup whispered, the words for his benefit as much as they were for hers. He felt unprepared to comfort a human after years filled with a dragon as his only companion.

After several minutes she wiped at her tears and turned to see his face.

"How did you know?" She queried.

"That you needed me?" Hiccup confirmed as she nodded the affirmative. "I didn't, I-I woke up to eh, avoid my own dreams."

"Oh," Astrid realized as she palmed his sweat-soaked nightshirt. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hiccup sighed as he hung his head. "No, I'll never really want to talk about it, but I also seem to have to talk about it. It's like-like if I don't speak of it, it doesn't actually exist, but maybe, just maybe if I do speak of it - gah! It just hurts and I don't know what to do about it."

"Oh babe I know, I actually do understand. I've had nightmares ever since the day that horrible letter came. 'Hey, I just killed your chief, but I think your tribe is pathetic so it's all cool, right?'" She balled her fists. "I wanted to rip his heart out of his chest and force feed it to him. But I had no idea the nightmares would be so bad. I hadn't even seen you die, all I had seen were a few burnt shreds of your blood-soaked armor."

"It doesn't take much when you have a good imagination." Hiccup commented miserably.

Astrid nodded vigorously, "A vivid imagination and a some battle experience. The perfect combination for horribly realistic nightmares."

They couple had shifted to sit next to each other and dangle their legs off of the edge of their wooden framed bed. Each leaned heavily on the other, more for the comfort of the touch of the one person they each trusted more than anyone else in the entire archipelago than for physical support.

"I guess I'll go first." Hiccup whispered hoarsely. "The main nightmare - there is never just one - starts with me waking up and apparently my return to Berk is the dream. I start by washing up onto a beach and being found by a group of villagers who immediately chain up Toothless and throw me in jail. The chief of the Uglithugs comes in and on the spot sentences me to death, but torment first."

Hiccup paused as he shuddered, took a deep breath and continued.

"What I have told you so far passes on at a reasonable pace, but now he regales me with stories of how after he 'killed' me he conquered Berk. Details of how he launched an attack on the defenseless first, how he disemboweled our dragons, tortured my family and friends in horrible ways before ripping most of my personal friends limb from limb."

He wept helplessly. "He burned most of the tribe to death after trapping them in their own homes. Naturally, he saved the worst for you because he knew how much I cared for you. I will _never_ be able to speak of most the things he did to you in my dreams, but I can tell you that they are things I have heard he has done to other victims of his. On Berk such actions carry the death penalty, no matter who commits the action."

Hiccup paused as he sniffled. "It ends when he kills you with a dull, jagged blade and I can feel it, every agonizing millisecond of excruciating torture. I can feel it as the blade pierces your skin, I can hear your screams as it crunches through your ribs and rips the flesh your of your lungs apart before cutting your heart in two. Then you stop screaming and limply fall to the ground, the blade still stuck in your chest. And the whole time I must watch you die all I can think is if I had been just a little bit faster, if I was slightly physically stronger, if I had seen his treachery a moment sooner, I could have been there to save you. After that he kills me with an arrow to the heart."

As a single tear ran down his cheek Hiccup sat frozen and unable to move, staring blankly at the shadows the moon cast on the wall in front of him, his hands clenched into iron fists in the bedding.

Astrid rubbed her palms up and down his back in an attempt to bring some piece of his brain back to reality. "Hey, it's okay. That heinous, evil chief failed. You came back. I am real, do I need to prove it?" She asked seriously.

"No," Hiccup chuckled mirthlessly, "I know what reality is. It just feels _so_ real, sometimes it can be hard to shake the darkness it casts on my thoughts."

Hiccup abruptly shook himself back to reality. "So yeah, I sincerely hope your dreams aren't nearly as bad as _that_."

Astrid shook her head, "I try to never judge the horror of any occurrence, it all depends on the person and their past."

She squeezed his hand in a show of understanding, "I do know how you feel though, my nightmare is a recreation of your final battle and death."

Her eyes glazed as she spoke of the horrors haunting her while she slept. "Throughout the dream I keep seeing that cursed piece of parchment. I see it as he signals his men to strike; I try to warn you but I can't. I watch as he draws his weapon but retreats like the half-troll coward he is and orders his soldiers to do his dirty work for him. I watch as riders and dragons fight side by side but are dispatched mercilessly when they eventually slow from exhaustion. And then I see you and Toothless fighting on and on winning fight after fight against all odds, but eventually you are also separated from your dragon and killed. Sometimes by and arrow through the eye, other times by a sword to the gut, still other times a building collapses onto you. Nevertheless, whatever the method, you always die alone. I can hear you scream in pain, I can smell your flesh as it burns, I can feel it as your bones are crushed, I-I."

She paused, momentarily unable to speak as she shook uncontrollably, "You die, and I miss you terribly. Every. Single. Night."

This time Hiccup stroked her back, allowing her to utilize a few moments to calm down.

"But that isn't what happened," Hiccup stated, "That repugnant man failed. For all his cowardice and traitorous ways, he still failed."

They both tried to breath deeply and relax as they held each other. It would be a long night with a high likelihood of neither of them sleeping, but they had each other. The dreams would fade with the light of the morning, and their love would break through the fear and replaced it with hope.

 _~\~|~/~_

"Yeah whatever, so Ruff and I took this yellow stuff-"

" _You_ took my sulfur." Hiccup muttered, keeping his eyes focused on the horizon.

"And added some charcoal-"

"At least we have plenty of that."

"then we mixed it with some other things, and BAM! _Huge_ explosion. Like I don't even know how something can explode like that. Other than Barf and Belch, they blow things up awesomely."

Tuffnut crossed his arms and shot a fake glare at Hiccup. "I really thought you would be more concerned for our well being, oh chief of ours. What do we have to do to for you to show us you care, to show us that we mean more than the money we bring in for the tribe. When will he show respect for our worth as human beings!" He wailed hollowly.

Hiccup sighed, "Alright Tuff, why were you mixing strange compounds, which, I might add, you stole from various people on Berk?"

"Oh, I thought that was obvious." Tuffnut added blandly, "You see, Ruff and I need to refresh the color palate of our home decor and modern viking fashionable clothing line for the discriminating and thoughtful viking sh-"

Hiccup buried his face in his hands, "You were trying to make a new dye."

"Uh, duh." He looked around to see if anyone could back him up, "Isn't that what I said?"

"I suppose it is," Hiccup conceded the point, "but where is Ruffnut now? Doesn't she usually like to help you spread your tales of terror?"

"That rhymed! Wow Hiccup, I didn't know you had it in you." Tuffnut nodded, impressed at the ease with which Hiccup had spoken.

"Ruff is looking for her other eyebrow, something about it running away when the dye blew up. Cowardly eyebrow, I thought she would have taught it better."

The male twin shrugged, "Doesn't really matter, she won't give it the chance to run off again."

Hiccup chuckled, happy to be back among his friends. "Hey Tuff, if you and Ruff are up to it I may have a job for you."

"Oh yeah? What doth our dearest Hiccup need. Has a rock dared to cross your good will one too many times? Barf and Belch will deal with all such troublesome lithospheric elements." the twin insisted.

"I was actually thinking of using your interior design talents."

"Really? This could work out well, maybe someone would actually ask for our help instead of us generously fixing the horrendous-"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him.

"-fashion faux pas that have plagued our fair island as of late."

"I want you to throw a party for the entire village." Hiccup redirected as he laughed at Tuffnut's antics.

"Whoa," Tuff exclaimed, "The whole village? That would be totally awesome! I can't wait to tell Ruff,"

Hiccup nodded, signaling the end of the conversation.

"She will never believe it. Maybe I should bring Hiccup to attest to my truthfulness." He pondered it for a moment, but decided against it.

Hiccup watched the retreating form of his friend as he raced back to town. He had been pleasantly surprised how quickly he had readjusted to village life, and it scared him. What if he became careless, risking the lives of everyone in the village?

"Stop thinking." Hiccup nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of a voice beside him. Looking over he saw Astrid sitting down at his side, but he already knew it was her, no one else could sneak up on him that well.

"Thor, if you keep this up someday you are going to give me a heart attack." Hiccup moaned.

"Nah," Astrid responded confidently, "But it will keep you on your toes. Come on Hiccup, staying in your head instead of appreciating the people and beauty around you will only cause more problems."

Hiccup nodded in agreement, "I know, and I am trying. I did talk to Tuff about throwing a party."

He stopped when she showed she already knew.

"How long were you hiding in those bushes? You can always feel free to help when it come to the twins, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do, but you had it well in hand and I wanted him to leave so I could be with you." Astrid explained.

Hiccup exhaled happily. "Moments like these always take me back. Think about it, how many times have we sat just like this, dangling our feet over the edge of a cliff, or a sea stack, or a mountain? Many, many times."

Hiccup rested his head on hers as she snuggled into his shoulder. "Thank you for always being there; you're so perfect I can't even describe how much you mean to me."

An easy smile graced Astrid's face, "Thanks babe, but we work as a team and cover each other's backs. I couldn't be 'perfect' without you."

Hiccup hummed in appreciation as Astrid spoke again. "You realize that telling Ruff and Tuff about the party in the morning means they will try to have the party tonight, right?"

"Yeah, doesn't bother me; it should work out all right."

"I think I could sit here forever." Astrid noted.

"As long as you are with me." Hiccup murmured.


	7. House Party

**Chapter 8 - House Party**

 _ **A/N - There is a fight in this chapter, so some gore, but not too bad.**_

The party was a smashing success, although not at literally as some feared when informed the twins had led the planning and preparation for it. Monstrous amounts of mutton and mead disappeared into the villagers who sat contentedly as Hiccup presented a small speech to show his appreciation for how the village worked together and supported each other while he was gone, and how warmly they welcomed him back upon his return.

The twins bustled about feeding meat and alcohol to anyone they could convince to drink it, including one unfortunate sheep. Vikings danced, laughed, and sang interspersed with bouts of heartfelt moments between individuals.

Personally Hiccup was inclined to call it a success and was reasonably sure Astrid would agree, but she was off having a quick chat with Vindur for trying to sneak a sip of wine.

Hiccup relaxed in his chair and rested his eyes for a moment. It was his plan to retire to bed as soon as Astrid returned, but this was taking too long.

"Fishlegs," He called, "I'm taking a short walk for some fresh air. If Astrid returns tell her I'll be right back. And keep an eye on things for me, okay?"

"Of course Hiccup, take as long as you need. I'm here until Ruffnut leaves, and we both know she never leaves a party early."

Hiccup nodded in agreement as he strode out of the Great Hall.

The sight which greeted him shocked him, scared him, justified his fears, and rewarded him for always carrying a weapon. At the base of the steps leading from the Great Hall back to Berk was Astrid and Vindur surrounded by four large assailants all armed to the teeth with weapons. A fifth figure lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and one of them was holding a rope.

 _"They intend to capture my family!"_ Hiccup's mind raced. He could turn around and yell for help, but then he would have to take his eyes off of Astrid and Vindur. No, that was _not_ okay.

Whistling for Toothless, he ran down the hill at breakneck pace and watched as Astrid duel wielded knives to fight off the attackers. It was awful watching the thugs close in on her as she occasionally pushed one back, but she couldn't gain any ground because she couldn't let one of them grab Vindur while she incapacitated any of the others.

"Shield his eyes." Hiccup commanded as he launched himself into the fray with flaming sword and body.

Astrid nodded in understanding and tucked Vindur's head in against her body. As much as she hated to be sidelined in a fight, she also needed to protect Vindur from the horrors of violent death as long as she could, and she trusted Hiccup. If he said he could handle these thugs, he could handle the thugs.

As soon as Hiccup was sure that Vindur could no longer see his actions Hiccup switched from fighting on the defensive to the offensive. In one swing Hiccup neatly sliced one man's head clean off of his shoulders, spun through the motion of the swing, and threw the burning blade into the criminal behind him as the malefactor commenced an assault on Astrid.

 _"Two down, two to go."_ He considered grimly. He charged straight at the next combatant, who reacted exactly as Hiccup expected: the man braced himself by spreading his legs. Hiccup slid between the legs, landed a sound whack on the crotch, jumped up behind the ruffian and snapped his neck without leaving time for the man to react.

Hiccup looked around for the last man, but was pleasantly surprised to see Toothless and Stormfly standing on top of the thug and holding him to the ground.

"Good job bud." Hiccup nodded approvingly, "Astrid, take Vindur to the house, I'll be there in a moment."

Astrid acknowledged him wordlessly and led their son away to a less bloody environment.

As his wife and son cleared the area Hiccup looked around to discover a large crowd of armed, drunk, and angry vikings rushing down the steps and surrounding the dead and unconscious men sprawled on the ground around Hiccup.

Hiccup looked around for Gobber or any of the elders or riders as the crowd began to murmur.

 _"Who are these men?"_

 _"Did you see the chief fight? I wouldn't want to be his enemy."_

 _"Is this one still alive?"_

"Spitelout!" Hiccup shouted.

"Aye."

"Get some men and clear the bodies, but tell me what you find on them."

"No need ta worry, a'll take care of it." Spitelout nodded.

"Gobber, Eret." Hiccup yelled as he scanned the crowd.

"R'ite beside ya lad."

"Here."

Hiccup nodded approvingly at the dagger Eret was palming but not brandishing. "Take the prisoner to the guardhouse and watch him personally. I'll be by in a few minutes to question him. Oh, and be sure to take Skullcrusher with you."

"Gobber, call a meeting of the elders _immediately_ , we will discuss the proper response to this threat."

"Snotlout!"

"Snotman here bringing the cool." Snotlout bragged with a most serious expression on his face.

"You are in charge of the guards and air corp until Astrid relieves you, got it?" Hiccup commanded.

"You got it." Snotlout responded promptly, "Any special orders?"

Hiccup thought for a moment, he did not want to be paranoid, but four armed men not native to Berk had just attacked his family. He figured he was entitled to worry a little bit.

"Double the watchmen, no one is alone at any point for any reason. I don't care if they have to relieve themselves or not, stay in groups. Also, mobilize the air corp for night maneuvers."

"On it chief." Snotlout exclaimed as he jumped onto Hookfang and flew away.

Surveying the bodies in the town center once more, Hiccup noted a broach on one of the men. He took it and motioned to Toothless who proceeded to roar, effectively quieting the people crowding the city square.

"Vikings of Berk." Hiccup boomed, "First, I thank you for coming to my aid. Tonight, on the night of our celebration of Thor's good will we have been attacked. Five individuals attacked and tried to harm my wife - your chieftess - and our son, the heir of Berk. Three of these men are dead, but the other remains alive for questioning. The council of elders is gathering as we speak to deal swift justice to these evildoers. You are welcome to join the council, but please first go and arm yourselves. Thank you, for your loyalty."

His speech over, Hiccup jumped onto Toothless who flew away on a beeline to the Haddock household.

Toothless sensed his friends urgency and responded by landed quickly, almost launching Hiccup through the front door of his house.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called when she heard the deep thud outside the house. She had been truly worried when she was approached by the five men. Berk was usually safe, so at first she assumed they were late party goers, but as they spread out in battle formation she recognized the pacing of their footsteps and instructed Vindur to stay close and hold onto her as hard as he could no matter what happened. Then they attacked. She slashed one across the face with one of her daggers, causing all of them to back off and surround her. She was honestly afraid for the outcome of this fight when Hiccup had barreled in like a lightning bolt, covering her back so she could properly protect Vindur.

"It's me Astrid, are you okay?" Hiccup asked with concern lacing his voice.

Vindur nodded vigorously as Astrid answered, "Yeah babe, we're all right. I had just given Stormfly her chicken and left her at the stable when they jumped us. I – I'm glad you came, because..."

Astrid's voice trailed off as she screwed her eyes shut, reopening them when the anger burnt through the horror of her thoughts.

"Don't warry Dada, you protect-ed us. Bwing you 'appy face bwack pwease?" Vindur asked innocently.

Hiccup couldn't help smile at his son when he spoke with such pleading in his voice.

"For you Vindur, always." Hiccup grinned as he hugged his son.

Turning to Astrid, Hiccup noted her serious expression.

"I don't think this is over," Hiccup commented as he handed the broach to her, "recognize this insignia?"

"Yes," she replied in a low voice, "It's the same design as on the letter; it belongs to the Uglithugs."

Hiccup groaned, "I was afraid you would agree with me. Okay, we need to tell the council."

"Are you expecting me to sit out of whatever this turns out to be?" Astrid demanded clarification of his intentions.

Hiccup almost laughed, "No way, I need you as my general. We will leave Vindur in the safe house with Minden and the Special Guards."

Astrid nodded approvingly.

"But I won't leave him unarmed. Vindur," Hiccup caught his son's attention. "I know your mother has started to train you to handle a knife."

Hiccup opened a drawer and pulled out an old knife. "This was my first real knife; I had this knife when I meet Toothless. I am giving it to you, okay?"

Vindur nodded seriously.

"This is a big responsibility, I need you to be very careful and very brave. Can you do that?" Hiccup asked softly as he knelt down at his son's level.

"Yes Dada, I cwan do it." Vindur answered seriously.

"Alright, time to go visit Auntie Mindy."

After Astrid and Hiccup had changed into their flight suits the family left and walked to back to the Great Hall, Toothless and Stormfly faithfully following them the whole time.

~\~|~/~

Hiccup, followed by Astrid and Vindur, had walked straight to the head of the council table and presented the evidence he had found on the body of the assassin, causing the entire tribe to erupt in outrage and forcing Hiccup to use Toothless to quiet the crowds again.

Just as Hiccup was regained control of the noise level Snotlout rushed in on Hookfang and began shouting wildly.

"Hiccup! You need to come now! There is a _whole tribe_ out here and they don't look friendly. Not even the Snot-man himself can defeat this many all at once."

"Whoa whoa Snotlout, slow down." Hiccup advised, "Just tell me what you saw."

Snotlout took a breath as Hookfang rolled his eyes.

"A huge armada is right off the coast of Berk, like, right there. The sails are painted with the symbol of - oh, you have a broach with the same picture, cool. Anyway, they started shooting at me when I flew closer to say hello. You know, maybe have a late meal with the admiral of the fleet -"

" _Snotlout!_ " Hiccup commanded.

"As I was saying, I'm pretty sure they are preparing to attack us. The troops were all on deck and in all their gear and stuff and the catapults and ballistas were primed."

Hiccup's face turned serious. "General Hofferson, the troops are yours. Prepare for war."

He turned to face the council, "I declare the Hairy Hooligans to be under attack by the Uglithugs; we will not negotiate with them due to their previous treachery."

"Aye," Gobber started to speak for the counsel but was interrupted by the impact of a large stone projectile on the outside of the hall.

"Get your weapons and your dragons, fight for your tribe and your honor!" Hiccup shouted as he rushed out to join the fray.

Not even his nightmares had prepared Hiccup for the landscape that greeted him as he exited the Great Hall. From his vantage point on Toothless's back he could see his village in flames, his people dying, and another madman hunting him down.

Yeah, his party was a splendid success.

" _All right, now or never Hiccup. For Astrid, for Vindur."_

Hiccup steeled himself as he extended his sword and rode into battle. Astrid rolled in to fly on his right wing as Snotlout took the left wing.

"So Hiccup," Astrid called as she dodged a score of arrows. "How do we want to play this? Total annihilation or mercy?"

Hiccup observed the enemy combatants for a moment, "Anyone who enters the village is to be cut down without mercy, there are too many of them for us to guard them as prisoners. But if they are on the beaches just hold them back."

Astrid grinned, "Snotlout, you're on fire suppression. I want all of those catapults out of commission, got it? Use the riders as you see fit."

"Oh you got it Hofferson. Snotlout Oi Oi Oi!" He flew off grinning manically and shouting his signature chant.

"And you Milady, where are you going to be?" Hiccup asked out of genuine curiosity, letting Toothless blast a rock hurtling at them so he could continue to consult his general.

"I'm sticking with you dragon-boy, you didn't think I would let you out of my sight, did you?" she cracked a smile. "Every time I let you go off alone you get into trouble, so you are stuck with me."

Hiccup could feel the elation flow through his veins; they were, and always would be, a team. Stronger together, back to back, forged to one unit by years of hardship.

Astrid caught on to his infectious joy and laughed, "So, what's the plan?"

Hiccup flipped his mask down, "Same as always, we eliminate the leader, the army looses heart and gives up."

Astrid nodded in approval.

They joined forces as their dragons blasted a path through the invader's front line defenses of shields and dragon traps, the soldiers trying to attack the dragons but failing miserably as the dragons flew over their heads.

Astrid spotted the hated chief and leaned forward to speak to Hiccup. "No way we will get close to him if we stay in the air, we are too obvious of targets. We should land and work our way through the enemy lines."

Hiccup grunted in agreement and abruptly rolled Toothless into a steep dive pointed straight at the first ranks of enemy soldiers the couple needed to eliminate. Toothless fired a blast to clear a place to land, dragons standing behind their humans and providing several tons of muscle and fire as backup. Hiccup and Astrid took the lead, leaving the dragons to cover their six, although very few of the enemy were willing to face both the feared Night Fury and the Deadly Nadder at the same time.

A few heads rolled off of the shoulders that used to own them as Berk's champions fought inwards towards their target, but most of the soldiers ended up simply knocked out, a fact which was not unnoticed by the rest of their comrades as they watched the smallish looking humans and two large, fear-inspiring dragons work their way through the army like a hot knife to yak butter.

Honestly, Hiccup hated what he was doing right now. Fighting was not his idea of a fun pastime, but a chief protects his own and his own had been threatened plenty as of late. He seriously doubted the individual soldiers cared about the fight in the least. They were performing their duty to their chief, but they lacked the fire that burns within a human's soul when their very home or a loved one's safety is threatened.

So back and forth Hiccup's arm swung, his pattern delivering swift and powerful blows with every strike.

 _B_ _lock block strike, block block strike._ _Move to next target as the last one to stand against you slumps to the ground._

Over and over he repeated the pattern. This was boring, did not one of these men have any real training or experience? Maybe the experienced ones were skipping over the skinny guy with a metal leg for the fierce valkyrie at his side. No, he could see she was felling opponents just as quickly as he was.

"Out of the way!" A deep, gravelly voice commanded.

Maybe this would finally become interesting, was this figure approaching them the chief or just an underling?

"Babe, it's not the chief, he would never walk calmly towards us. Too cowardly." Astrid scowled.

She was right and he knew it, the chief won his battles through brute force assisted by his wide frame, but this man was much more lean. Non of that changed the actions Hiccup must take, and this man would fight hard, hindering Hiccup's ability to guarantee the man would keep his head.

Hiccup smiled as the opposing soldiers formed a makeshift ring around the duo and the challenger.

He had an idea.

Hiccup gave a low whistle, Toothless and Stormfly listened but recognized no command attached to the signal. However, Toothless's saddlebag began to squirm.

"My name is Thord, champion of the Uglithugs, second only in skill to the chief himself." The man boasted in a booming voice. "Who is daring to stand against me?"

Hiccup would have smacked his head with his hands if they were not holding sharp objects.

"I guess he forgot the whole _know your enemy_ lesson." Hiccup mumbled before projecting a commanding voice, "I am Hiccup Haddock, the Dragon Master."

He didn't think it wise to tell him the chief was standing in front of him.

"The Dragon Master, eh?" Thord considered, "How about we save some of these poor unfortunate men and you move straight on to fighting me."

Hiccup shrugged, "The sooner this is over the better, but if you take me to your chief we don't need to fight."

Thord examined Hiccup's face to see whether or not the suggestion was serious. "I cannot do that Hiccup Haddock, but I do believe you would not stab me in the back."

"Your move." Hiccup stated as he judged his opponent. Astrid caught his eye and he gave her a reassuring wink.

"Be ready." He whispered.

Thord's first strike was strong and swift, meant to smash the opponent's defense and clear a path for the death blow. It also often confused contenders into thinking Thord was a brute force warrior, which he was not.

Hiccup nimbly dodged under the blow and spun around, prepping a strike but needing to redirect his sword to block another blow. The two men became a brown blur as metal clashed in the dance of swords and feet.

Hiccup had had enough of this fight. This man was exceptional, and while Astrid may be the man's equal, Hiccup was not.

 _"Time for plan B."_ Hiccup decided as he let out an ear piercing whistle.

A green blur erupted out of Toothless's saddle bag and launched itself Thord. As Sharpshot assaulted the unfortunate man's face, Hiccup knocked the sword out of Thord's hand and pushed the man towards a waiting Astrid.

Astrid waited until Hiccup called Sharpshot off Thord before she struck, only to be caught by a dagger Thord had pulled out while trying to attack Sharpshot. Astrid gave him a sweet smile as she quickly disarmed him in three quick moves, finishing by smashing the flat of her ax against the side of his head. She calmly looked up and scanned the crowd, eventually landing on Hiccup's appreciatively awed expression as Thord slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Next?" Hiccup requested, but the soldiers were still in shock at their champion's defeat.

"Let's go babe, we're almost there." Astrid urged. The ground was still shaking from dragon attacks and impacts of large rocks launched from Berk's defenses.

"Right." Hiccup agreed. They regrouped in the same formation and charged the soldiers in between them and Uglithug chief.

Only a few lines of warriors remained to block the path to their goal, and they efficiently sliced through them and burst into the chief's planning circle.

"YOU!" The chief spat out in disgust. "The disgusting vermin himself. Do you realize that if you would just lay down and die your people would be allowed to live? If they give you up for execution they will be left alone."

"You just repeated yourself." Hiccup interjected.

"Do you think will defeat me with your dull wit? You are even more of a fool than I thought. I-"

Hiccup cut him off and started in on him, " _You_ attacked a peace delegation, _you_ decided to kill another chief because your whim said so, _you_ demanded it be excused because you think you are judge, jury, and executioner, and now _you_ have attacked a peaceful tribe without a declaration of war because you have a personal disagreement with their chief. You even ordered my wife and child assassinated despite both tribes being under a binding peace treaty and you dare to call _me_ vermin!"

Hiccup paused, staring each adviser in the eyes until they all were staring at their hands in shame.

"I am not the pathetic one here, I am not the coward who is hiding behind an army when the bloodshed could be staunched by stepping forward and accepting responsibility. You started this, now end it. I challenge you to combat, right here, right now."

The Uglithug's chief stared at Hiccup murderously before shrieking and jumping out at him with battleaxe in hand. Hiccup reignited his blade and met each swing blow for blow, absorbing the full impact of each strike. He knew he would be unable to sustain such exertion against such a strongly built opponent, but he desired to infuriate the opposing chief by removing the satisfaction provided by overpowering his opponent by using his immense strength. Hiccup's strategy worked well, the other chief furiously pounding harder and harder against Hiccup's defense, but the addition of anger fueled even greater force behind his blows, forcing Hiccup to resort to skill rather than strength.

Hiccup slipped for a moment, catching himself and blocking the ax aimed at his neck, but unable to avoid the fist that collided with his face and sent his world spinning. Needing space to recover, Hiccup clicked to button on his sword, spewing a cloud of Zippleback gas around both combatants. Hiccup dropped to the ground and shielded his head to avoid the explosion, but the Uglithug chief tried to run and ended up face down in the dirt with a new soot-black tattoo adorning his face.

Pushing himself to his feet, Hiccup reignited his sword, but used two canisters of Monstrous Nightmare gel instead of just one, doubled the flaming liquid and heat emanating from his weapon. The other chief stood quickly and attacked again, but laughed manically as his axehead was drenched in flaming liquid.

"You have made a mistake, _dragon lover_ , now my weapon is as dangerous as yours!" he bellowed.

"Not quite." Hiccup stated calmly as he brought his sword to bear against the front of the ax blade. The sword slicing the ax into two separate pieces as Hiccup's opponent watched helplessly as his axhead melted away at the heat of the flame.

"A special metal is required to withstand such high heat." Hiccup explained patronizingly as the fight recommenced.

"You will pay dearly for destroying my ax!"

"That's what you are concerned about right now?" Hiccup asked incredulously, but his opponent ignored him and used a fist to land a blow on Hiccup's hand, loosening his grip on Inferno and causing it to be knocked to the ground. The chief took the opportunity to grab at both Hiccup's forearms and force him to grapple, but Hiccup was faster and ignited both vambraces just as the chief's hands grasped him in their crushing grip.

The chief howled in pain and drew back, creating an opening in his defenses Hiccup used to pound a few well placed blows on the man's head and igniting hair and clothes on fire. The flaming monstrosity fought back, delivering crushing blows but burning more and more skin away with each attack. After several minutes of grappling the Uglithug chief slumped to the ground in a smoldering lump, not quite unconscious but useless for any intelligent purposes.

Hiccup scanned the crowd that had gathered, reading shock, disbelief, and - relief? Did these people live in fear of their own chief?

Astrid cleared her throat to gather Hiccup's attention, so he looked at her. She has holding Inferno and asking if he wanted it; he nodded the affirmative and she threw it. In one smooth moment he caught it, lit it, and held it high in the air as he addressed the Uglithug elders and warriors.

"Your chief has been defeated, you can accept his failure honorably and retreat, or you can continue to fight. You will lose. I demand an answer _now."_ Hiccup commanded.

The elders, like most democratic governments Hiccup had met, were unable to make up their minds, but a familiar figure joined the group and assumed leadership.

"My brothers and sisters," Thord pleaded, "This man has fought honorably and spared many of our kith and kin, shall we repay him by demanding our blood be spilt by his blade? He has defeated our chief in honorable combat, he has the right to subjugate the entirety of our tribe and yet he has not claimed it. He has shown himself to be more than fair, let us throw ourselves on his mercy, and may Thor smile on our humility."

Hiccup was shocked, he had expected the tribe to demand vengeance, he had expected a bloodbath, but Thorn had stepped in and led the tribe to peace.

Thord knelt at Hiccup's feet and the tribe followed his example, throwing down their weapons as they moved to the position of submission.

Hiccup looked to Astrid and she shrugged, guessing what Hiccup was about to do.

"Rise Thord, newly appointed chief of the tribe of Uglithugs. May wisdom and peace walk with you as you lead your tribe to prosperity."

"Thank you. May Thor bless your warriors with strength and may Frigga bless your women with children, we are in your debt."

"Return to your island and deal swift justice to those responsible for this breach of treaty and all will be forgiven." Hiccup offered.

"It will be done." Thord assured Hiccup.

Hiccup acknowledged Thord with a nod, "Call off the riders Milady, let's go restore the peace."

~\~|~/~

 **A/N- So, this is the end. I hope you all have enjoyed it and I may write a chapter to tie it all together, but that might depend on if y'all want it.**


	8. Daybreak

**Chapter 9 – Daybreak**

"Stormfly, Toothless, blast!" Astrid gestured to the fading stars as she watched Hiccup carefully place his steps to avoid tripping as he trekked back to where she had waited with the dragons. She had reveled in the fire that had burned in his eyes earlier in the evening, enjoying that for once both she and her husband souls blazed with the same need to destroy the cause of their nightmares and the danger to their family in one swift blow, but as Astrid contemplated the look in his eyes she understood what she should have remember earlier. Hiccup had created a plan and rushed into the fray, unafraid because of the woman and the dragon at his side, but he had struck directly for the kill. No negotiations, no pleading to rethink rash actions, just sword and fury, a lightning quick harbinger of death.

Astrid knew that while the execution blow may have saved the tribes from war, but it also doomed Hiccup to doubt whether or not he could have saved the tribes without the need for bloodshed.

She gazed lovingly into his eyes; how could such a skinny frame hold such a vast heart? Both she and Hiccup knew that man on the ground was mortally wounded. Even if the gods had mercy and allowed him to recover from his wounds a simple fate lay before him: outcast from known viking kind or death. The vulgar chief had murdered more vikings than anyone could count, and Hiccup was stressing over whether or not he could have ended it a different way.

Astrid sighed as the other dragon riders executed a perfect protective circle as they impacted the ground around the Chief and his wife. She would need to help Hiccup work through his mind later, but right now it looked like Snotlout was itching to ax Thord's head off of his shoulders, and that was one of the heads that needed to stay exactly where it was.

"Snotlout!" She shouted, "War's over and that guy-"

she gestured to Thord's torch lit face.

"-is their new chief, so be nice to his neck, okay?"

Snotlout glanced over at Thord and shrugged. "Fine, I already had my fun destroying ten-"

"We got twelve!" The twins proclaimed as they bashed their heads against each other.

"As I was saying," Snotlout rolled his eyes and lounged on his dragon's back, "Hooky and I already destroyed fifteen ships, so I'm cool to call it a day."

Fishlegs was the first of the newcomers to invest any real brainpower into the situation.

"So Hiccup, what do we do now? I mean, we did destroy most of their fleet so there is no way they can all turn around and sail back right now, and people are still fighting and don't even know we have ended it!"

Using his brain to solve problems was one thing he could do, so Hiccup nodded confidently, "I need one of you – I don't care who – to go blow the Great Horn and announce the peace. And remember, I said blow the horn, not blow _up_ the horn, okay?"

"Is he eyeing us again?" Ruff asked her twin.

"Indeed he is, dear sister, but what would thou fear more, the eye, or if he eyed us not?" Tuff confirmed.

"We will give the horn a mighty blast, my fine Chief, and then we will, er -"

Hiccup interjected, "And then you will help find and tend to the wounded. All your pranking each other has caused the both of you enough injures, so I'm sure you can help out our new friends."

"I take back everything I said before," Tuff exclaimed as he jumped onto Belch _,_ "you do love us!"

"Excuse me, milord." Thord interrupted the fading whooping and hollering of the twins. "But many of my ships are sinking and I have no way to save my people who are on board."

Hiccup smirked, "I know, but it would be a lot faster if both our villages were working together. So Thord, have you ever ridden a dragon?"

Thord swallowed nervously, "No."

You're coming with me. Astrid will direct the troops on where to set up camp so you don't need to worry about them, but you need to meet with the elders to sign the treaty."

Thord nodded, "Very well, I will ride the dragon."

"Astrid, you need anything before we go?" Hiccup asked as he helped Thord up and onto Toothless' back.

"Nope, we're good. Would you mind speaking with Vindur? After that talk you gave him he'll be super serious standing guard, and I would rather he slept some tonight."

"I'll speak with him." Hiccup chuckled. The idea of the three year old acting far beyond his years and standing next to the carefully chosen guards even as his eyelids drooped was dangerously cute, and Astrid was right. Their child had the combined stubbornness of both his parents, making for quite the cranky child when he became tired.

~\~|~/~

After gathering the elders, most of whom had returned from battle to the great hall after the horn blast, Hiccup had dropped Thorn off with them for the traditional questions to be asked and answers pondered. Having spoken with Gobber to make sure his wishes regarding the Uglithugs were represented, Hiccup returned to assist with the search for the wounded on Berk's bloodied beaches. He assisted Fishlegs and Gothi with treatments and such, but the time that remained of that night – the stars were already beginning to fade – was mostly occupied with directing where to pitch this tent, or who was responsible for making sure breakfast would exist the next morning, or advising someone it really didn't matter if that person sat down over there instead of over here, or breaking up a squabble before it could cause any larger issues.

As the morning sun stretched it's rays out across the horizon he stopped in the Great Hall to check on the council once more; happily finding that the promise of receiving breakfast faster had motivated them enough to iron out the kinks of the Uglithugs surrender so as to only need Hiccup's approval, which he was happy to give.

"Dada!" Hiccup heard a shout in the distance and turned to find that Vindur had woken up and slipped away from his babysitters.

Too happy at the site of his son to be reproachful of his disobedience, Hiccup laughed at his son's bedraggled appearance and knelt down as the patter of small feet rushed towards him.

"Hey buddy, did you sleep well?" Hiccup inquired as his son fiddled with a strap of leather on Hiccup's suit.

Vindur shook his head, "Oise 'other me awl night, an' Ommy newwer come sing ttoo me."

Hiccup thought about it for a moment, the carnage from the night before would be mostly cleaned up, although the destruction would still be strewn across the beach.

"Alright Vin, what do say we go find her?"

"Yay!" Vindur giggled as Hiccup kissed his nose and gently tickled is sides.

Hiccup hoisted Vindur onto his shoulders and marched off into Berk to find Astrid. He knew she would still be in the thick of it – because _"why would she rest_ _w_ _hen there is work to be done?"_ – and it was time she took a break and ate some food – and he really didn't want to even try to get Vindur to eat before he had relaxed about his mother. Not that Hiccup blamed the little guy, he worried about Astrid all the time.

"Hiya Chief!" Eret called out as the pair passed. "If you're looking for Astrid you'll find her at the yonder end of the beach. She insisted on overseeing food distribution personally, and there are always more wounded to check."

"Thanks Eret!" Hiccup called back followed by a smaller "Thwanks Ewet!" from a slightly higher elevation. "Now all we have to do is catch up with Mommy, so keep an eye out for her okay?"

"Okay!"

A few minutes later they found her wrestling firewood into piles as Stormfly slumbered nearby.

"Milady," Hiccup queried, "Don't you think you should take a break if even the dragons are sleeping?"

"Hiccup!" She grinned as she turned around.

"Ommy!" Vindur shouted as he suddenly became a mass of flailing limbs trying to scramble down off of Hiccup and onto Astrid.

"Careful Vin," she instructed, "That's right, grab onto a new handhold before you let go with the other hand. DON'T-"

She stopped as the three year old flung himself off of Hiccup and into Astrid's arms.

"-jump." She finished her sentence flatly.

"That was a big jump Vin, let's be more careful okay?" She said while avoiding looking at Hiccup, who she was sure was laughing. It had been her idea to start training Vindur to climb, and now he was doing his best to push the limits of his abilities; that is what his Mother did, right?

"Me and Vin were thinking about getting some breakfast, wanna join us?" Hiccup asked as he finally schooled his expression down to a wide grin.

"Hmm, food sounds wonderful." She spoke as her stomach growled loudly, causing both Hiccup and Vindur to laugh.

~\~|~/~

Astrid had decided this was perfect, and after a night of trying to sew people's guts back together it sure felt splendid to sit down with the gang and eat quietly. No one was in much of a mood to talk, but quiet conversation and knowing nods expressed just as much as words ever could. Besides, if no one asked her anything she could spend more time filling her stomach with this incredibly tasty yak stew. She knew it was a recipe Hiccup had created, but she was always amazed at how well the gentle sweetness of cooked carrots complimented the hearty flavor of the yak meat as it melted when your teeth bit into it.

The meal, combined with having Hiccup back and Vindur happily frolicking nearby truly relaxed Astrid, and she finally regained what she lost all those years ago: peace.

~\~|~/~

Hiccup sighed, resting his eyes for a moment before continuing to pull his boots off and undo all of the many buckles and straps holding his heavily worn armor onto his body. His shoulder popped loudly and he sat down on the bed and groaned, every stiff muscle crying out in protest of any more exertion. The burn from each fiber of his being begged for nothing less than a good long soak in a hot spring, but even if he could have stayed awake for the flight that would require, Hiccup couldn't tear himself away from his family.

Finally devoid of his armor, Hiccup reached for his nightclothes and in the process turned to face his bed. The sight greeting him was so perfect is seemed to be out of his dreams, dreams which upon becoming reality destroyed his nightmares' chances of becoming true prophets. Lit by gentle candlelight, his wife sat on her side of the bed carefully unwinding her braid lest it knot itself beyond mere mortal's ability to remedy. Each time she freed a sheaf of hair it gently swayed back and forth across her back, taking its time to reach the natural end point of its swing. No urgency, nor haste marred its journey.

The quiet, the still, the – the peace. Finally, peace. Despite having _two_ tribes to chief for the next day, Hiccup was at peace.


	9. Epilogue

**Chapter 10 - Epilogue**

Nary a year later the icy breeze of the northern archipelago left a hastened caress on a proud scaled snout as it pressed onward to a speck of land, land which appeared to grow continually as time passed. The harsh sound of breaking ice crystals followed the deep thuds of large beasts as they came to rest on the pebbly shore of Uglithug Isle. Copious clouds of steam burst from the dragon's nostrils and instantly crystallized in the frigid atmosphere as two riders dismounted from their respective mounts. One rider blue and one rider black, both observed the beach and surrounding land carefully, trained eyes chronicling the changes in the mostly desolate landscape.

The beach was composed of rounded black stones, coated with ice as white as ocean spray. The beach gave way to what was once a forest, but the ancient trees had been burned harshly, leaving only scorched trunks as a testament of its previous glory. In place of trees, a grassland had reseeded and begun its work replenishing the nutrient-stripped ground, and even the occasional small prairie flower now dared to show its bloom the evening.

In the distance the grasslands held a small village of wooden structures and dugout huts as they clung tightly to a short cliff which served as a windbreak, protecting the village from the worst of the harsh winds that continued to batter the two riders as they cataloged the newly started dock, the foundation of the watchtower that promised to guard it, and the solidly built emergency shelter intended to be used by fishermen unfortunate enough to be caught in a storm while so far from their homes.

When the riders reached the clustered building a door opened and a single powerfully built figure appeared and beckoned them enter shelter before the new snowstorm obscured all vision but a night fury's.

"I thought you must have decided Thor's hand was too heavy today and had turned back." a hearty voice declared as the couple and their dragons hurried into the beckoning warmth of the dwelling.

"Stormfly loves crazy weather way too much for that." the blond female rider spoke as she shook frozen water drops off of her thick riding suit and our of her fur hood.

"Besides," the male rider interjected, "Minden wouldn't give us a moment of peace if we didn't deliver her letter to Snotlout."

Stomping his boots and giving himself a satisfactory once over to check he had removed enough ice to be comfortable indoors, the black rider extended a hand to the figure who had greeted them.

"Good to see you Thord, how are things in the village?" male rider asked.

"Greetings Chief Hiccup, the village is well." Thord replied.

"I thought we dispensed of the formalities months ago?" the female rider interjected.

"Yes Astrid, I suppose we did, though old habits do seem to be hard to break."

"No worries," Astrid shrugged, "but speaking of old habits, I thought Snotlout had finally started to show up on time."

Thord chuckled, but his words were interrupted by the rather brash voice of a certain dark haired viking as he exited the rear of the house and entered the common room.

"I heard that Astrid, I was just catching up on my beauty sleep because your dragons rode the slow wind all the way from Berk."

Astrid leaned over to Hiccup and not so quietly whispered in his ear, "I guess he would rather we lost Minden's letter by battling the storm than arrive later and actually have it."

"You have a letter from Minden? Where! Is she okay? Is little Snortlout's cold gone yet?"

Hiccup smirked, "And just like that Snotlout almost sounds like a normal human. Here you go Snot." he stated as he handed him the letter.

Snotlout eyed the pair skeptically, but took the letter and left to read it in private, leaving Hiccup and Astrid almost alone with Thord.

"My apologies, if you wish to see the village in all its winter glory you will need to wait an hour or so. The village sleeps much longer with so little to do in comparison with summer. Rest assured that you will not need to wait long." Thord explained his village's quirks.

Hiccup smiled knowingly, "Don't worry about it, Astrid will need a few minutes to take care of our little one. So, chiefing working out for you? No upstart young members trying to revolt yet?"

Thord laughed heartily, "Congratulations on the new little one, though I am surprised you brought the child. It seems like such a long journey for one so small. And no, there has been so much change since I succeeded my predecessor that few have become sure enough of the boundaries of the rules so as to be confident in breaking them. They were all quite pleased when I removed dueling as the solution to all disagreements."

Astrid nodded, "Winning over the wives and mothers of your people is always wise."

Thord rocked his head in agreement, "Come, we needent wait for the people to wake to see some things. You are both still quite the heroes around here and will draw quite a crowd without effort."

Hiccup groaned, "My favorite."

~\~|~/~

Two days had passed since Hiccup and Astrid had landed on Uglithug, and Thord and his people had made them feel as welcome as possible. The entire village, minus the watchmen, were currently attending the farewell party thrown in honor of the chief and chieftess, complete with gifts, entertainment, and tales of the sure future glory in store for both the Hooligan and Uglithug tribes.

Bored with the dull taste, Astrid swirled the heavily watered down mead she was drinking and leaned into Hiccup as he sat next to her.

"So babe, they seem really grateful for what you did when they attacked us last year."

Hiccup snorted, "Yeah, it's almost like they forgot I personally killed several of them. Like, say, Bjorn the bald. I killed his cousin. And Root-rod's uncle, and -"

"Babe, your missing the point again, but the thing is, they aren't. What is it you are always telling people? " _Good dragons do bad things when controlled by bad people."_ Well, the same goes for humans and they understand, and some of them feel guilty they didn't stand up to him themselves."

Hiccup frowned, "I'm not sure what you're getting at."

Astrid gently grasped his hand and turned him to face her. "If you hadn't acted, if you had hesitated and tried to talk him out of it more of them would have died from Berk's defenses and our dragon rider corp. You know that, and they do too. As soon as you had stopped the threat you threw your _entire_ village into rescuing their trapped and healing their injured. You held nothing back that could help them."

A small smile graced her lips as she pause to take a breath.

"You lead both tribes down a path of peace. Peace is never given freely, someone has to give up something. There old chief had to give his life, you had to violently resist intruders. You both paid the price of peace, and you lead the Uglithugs into the most prosperous winter they have ever had. I'd say you did well, wouldn't you?" She asked as she looked into his eyes expectantly.

"The price of peace, eh?" He looked around at the happy faces filling the room. "I suppose I had lost sight of why I had to stop him so fast. Thank you Astrid, for seeing clearly even when I can't."

"Always Hiccup, always."

 _-The end._

 _~\~|~/~_

 _._

 _._

 **A/N – So, this is the real end. I've walked them back to peace, but who knows what the future holds for them? Thanks for joining me, and I hope you have enjoyed the time you spent reading this story. I have another story planned, but it is still in the early stages.**

 **Special thanks to fs440 for being my unofficial beta and letting me bounce thoughts off of her brain.**

' **til next time. - De Amicus**


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